Purity: 53 Lies and Counting
by The Lord of a Lemon
Summary: You know life gets weird and potentially more depressing when you wake up in a fictional game world inside a fictional killing game as a fictional character that's the first to die. But hey. You weren't going to take dying like that were you? However with sudden changes to a Killing Game, everything was going to become far more tougher than necessary. OCInsert!Rantaro. With twists!
1. Mint, Oil and Survivors

**53 Lies and Counting.**

 _Chapter 1: Mint, Oil and Survivors._

 _Begin Recording 321drv111-0_ _ **.**_

 ** _._**

 **Warning! This contains heavy V3 spoilers, so if you haven't player/seen the game, don't read this.**

 **Thank you and good night.**

 **.**

As the world started to come around her, she could taste the oil in her mouth, smell the mint and wet wood in the air and feel the hard and cool metal that pressed against her skin and a draft of cool air made her hairs stand on ends.

The world around her seemed different, like it was constantly shifting.

Like it was constantly changing.

It made her stomach churn, made her open her eyes, dazed and unfocused. There was a hand in front of her, was it hers? Was it someone else's?

She couldn't tell from the darkness.

A faint tune played in the background, but she could barely hear it.

Her mind suddenly sharpened as her brain immediately acknowledged the fact she was in a tight place, a small metal room with a door with barely enough room to move or even breathe.

She couldn't hear the muffled talking and a gentle knock on the metal door in her growing panic.

Her chest was tight as she slammed her fist against the door, banging it again and again as the door refused to budge. Her heartbeat rose as panic started to set in and began to breathe heavily as the space around her seemed to get smaller, more darker, more hideous as something from the darkness reached out and touched her shoulder with a mucus covered claw.

With a scream, one that didn't sound right, and a final bang, she opened the door.

Well, it was more like she had taken the entire door off its hinges as she tripped onto the door falling in fear of a loud snapping sound from the hinges snapping.

She yelped as she tumbled onto the falling door that hit the ground with a mighty thud, a surprised cry rang out from nearby.

"AH! MONOTARO!"

She cried out in pain at the loud noise and immediately crawled off the door and scuttled off towards a nearby wall, the beat of her heart drowning out the noise around her as her alien surroundings bled into eyes and refused to disappear even as she wiped her eyes.

A classroom, she was in a classroom with wooden student chairs and desks and a podium. But what classroom has greenery and foliage growing all over it? And what classroom had large red barbed wired blocking off the windows from access?

And what classroom had four weird, bipedal, miniature, two-toned bears?

One of them, a white and pink bear with a flower tucked on its ear and a weird coconut shaped bra, tried to lift the fallen door with all of its might as the other three did nothing. One, a white and blue bear that resembled a rock star was laughing boisterously at the pink bear as it took out a miniature guitar and broke it over its head, causing wooden splinters to shatter everywhere. A white and brown, stripped bear with a pair of black framed glasses chuckled, mumbling to itself about the pink one being an idiot and expenses. The last one was a white and green bear that looked like a robot, which stood further away as it looked at the group quietly and almost nervously.

They all had a strange shaped right eye and a pacifier in each of their mouths, each with half of a malicious grin etched onto their coloured sides.

That was when she saw a fifth bear, trapped underneath the door she knocked over.

The panic suddenly disappeared, replaced with a strong worry as she immediately got up, "I'm so sorry, let me help", and lifted the door up off the bear and propped it to the wall.

The fifth, final bear was a red and white one that wore a long grey scarf with a silver star pinned to the front. The bear was knocked out with a small visible bump on its head.

She picked the bear up and gently shook him, stroking and holding it like it was her own child. "Hey, wakey wakey."

She ignored the strange, almost confused looks the other bears were giving her and each other as she continued to gently rock the red bear, smiling as a confused groan escaped its mouth. "...Hwah?"

The red bear looked around curiously before staring at her, directly at her face, not speaking a word.

Then...

"Yay!" The red bear cheered, pulling out a throwing star from thin air. "Thank you father!" And hugged her like an affectionate child.

She blinked, unable to stop herself from hugging the affectionate red bear back. "Father..?" Why did it call her father-

That was when she saw the silver rings and bracelets on her fingers and wrist.

"Welp! Looks like Monotaro's forgetfulness strikes again."

The shirt she was wearing was different as well. She was wearing a dark blue striped sweater instead of her usual red flannel shirt.

"Bwahahaha!"

She wasn't wearing her jeans either, she had a pair of slightly baggy, cream pants instead-

"Monokid, enough! He just got knocked on the head, that's all you bastard!"

A crystal necklace hung around her neck-

"..."

She lifted her hands, feeling her head and stopping at the piercings on her ears, barely acknowledging how her right ear had more piercings then the left one.

"I've got a rock hard rager right now! So I'll just take it out on Monosuke!"

"Bring it on jabroni! I'll crush ya with my superior Exisal skills!"

Her hair felt softer yet much shorter and fluffier than it was not too long ago. And the colour had changed from it's original brown to-

'Light green?'

"Please don't! Daddy's gonna get mad if he finds out we destroyed half the school again!"

She froze, feeling her throat, going cold when she felt something much more prominent than before. Something that shouldn't be there at all.

The world felt dead cold as something seeped and crawled into her memory, pushing every muscle and nerve it could possibly reach before stopping dead cold in its tracks, just as familiar, yet very foreign memories flashed right before her eyes in an instant.

 _Danganronpa V3._

 _Mutual Killing Games._

 _Video Game._

 _Monokuma._

 _Monokubs._

 _Remnants of Despair._

 _Hope's Peak._

 _Ultimates._

 _New Season._

 _Fiction._

 _England._

 _College._

 _Stress._

 _Hope._

 _Despair._

The world came to a halt.

 _Truth._

 _Lies._

 _Ending._

The robotic Monokub, Monodam, looked over to the suddenly quiet student. Feeling brave, he spoke up.

"HOW-ARE-YOU-FEELING? WHAT-DO-YOU-"

 _Ultimate Survivor._

 _Ultimate Adventurer._

Her pupils dilated, and opening her-

No, opening _his_ mouth, he screamed.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Darkness took over, and suddenly Rantaro Amami fell back into the uncaring void.

* * *

The smell of strong mint roused him from his sleep, the smell tickled his nose and brought back memories of home and that mint chocolate he had always loved, even when he was barely starting to eat solid foods as a toddler.

Yet... The taste of oil in his mouth made him mentally cringe, causing him to jolt awake from his unconsciousness.

He was still in the same room as before, however the Monokubs were no longer in the room, instead there was a girl and boy, perhaps in their teens.

The girl blond hair with music note hairpins placed neatly near her fringe. She wore a high school uniform consisting of a white shirt with a pink sweater over it, along with purple skirt patterned with musical notes and staves. She looked bright and cheery, she reminded him of a girl who would never give up.

The boy on the other looked like a pale, goth nerd that went to Hot Topic one too many times. He had a black cap with a white strap covering his black hair and one of his grey eyes. He also wore a black, five buttoned uniform with matching coloured pants and shoes.

The boy averted his gaze as soon as they made eye contact.

It was oddly cute.

Rantaro's gut twisted in knots. He was starting to feel uncomfortably hot and sweaty.

"Ah, you're awake. That's good, me and my friend heard you scream and came as fast as we could, but you had passed out." She put on a kind smile. "My name is Kaede Akamatsu, I'm the **_Ultimate Pianist_** , it's a pleasure to meet you."

She stared at the boy in front of her, a frown slowly making it's way to her face as he continued to stay silent. Feeling awkward, she spoke up again, "So are you also-"

The teen put his hand over his mouth, gagging. "Sick. Toilets?"

"Oh, the toilets- There's a bin over there-"

He gave her a hasty thumbs up and immediately dove towards the bin.

They both looked away, both turning a little green as the loud retching started.

* * *

"Are you feeling better now?"

Rantaro gave her a thumbs up, downing the second cup of water before tossing it into the other bin. He let out a sigh of relief as the oily taste in his mouth started to disappear. "A bit, thank you for the water."

"Ah, it's no problem. Right Shuichi?"

"R...Right."

"Shuichi is an _**Ultimate Detective**_ , that's cool right?"

The boy looked away, clearly flustered as he adjusted his cap. "I'm just a detective in training, I'm not officially a detective..."

With a chuckle, Rantaro stared at Shuichi in amusement. "You're still an Ultimate though right?"

"Yes, but only-"

"Then you're an Ultimate, you wouldn't be here otherwise, so stop worrying that cute butt of yours."

"Huh?"

The detective blushed at the sudden compliment, which only intensified when he laughed at his expression. Kaede couldn't help a small laugh either, though it was muffled behind her hand.

She couldn't help the small pang of jealousy in her chest either.

"So, umm... Are you also an Ultimate?"

Rantaro hummed in thought.

Ah yes, an Ultimate. Of course, Rantaro thought this was some sick dream until his retching had nearly torn his throat up and caused mild pain. However, now that he felt much more calmer, he realised that this wasn't the case.

Awhile ago she was just a normal college girl with problems.

Now she, who was now a he, was an Ultimate inside a mutual killing game and that he happened to be Rantaro Amami, the guy who was the very first to die in Danganronpa V3, the first husbando of her best friend before being ruthlessly taken from her, the extremely pretty one with a lot of siblings.

After his breakdown earlier, he felt much more calmer than before, perhaps a little too calm, as he brought his thoughts back together... Mostly.

Everything was still hazy to him at the moment, things were jumbled up and if he thought too much his head was probably going to explode.

He decided to stop thinking too much for now and just let his mind adapt to the environment. He had time right?

He licked his lips. "Ah, yes, I do believe I am." He shot them both with his best smile.

"My name is Rantaro Amami, the **_Ultimate Survivor_** , It's a pleasure to meet the both of you."

"...Survivor?"

'...Shit.'

He wasn't supposed to say that. Fuck, it would be suspicious if 'she' found out. He would die much quicker than in the game if she found out-

"It that why you have that knife?"

He stopped his soon to be mental train wreck and looked at Kaede, blinked, and looked to where she was pointing and noticed the small blade in a leather sheath strapped to his waist. That was defiantly not there before, he could of sworn it.

Silence...

..."Yes?"

He was going to be in so much trouble later, he could just feel it.

"An- Anyway." He coughed. "Do you guys know how you got here?"

"...You don't remember too, huh?"

"Seems like it."

"Then everyone else must not remember either..." Kaede's ahoge drooped, and Rantaro couldn't help but stare.

"Pretty strange, right?" Rantaro, chuckled trying his best to ignore her ahoge. "It's almost like we all have amnesia or something along those lines but... That sounds impossible."

"Yeah..." Shuichi muttered. "That would be a stretch."

Rantaro licked his lips and sighed, rubbing his temples as he felt a headache start to come on.

It was one of those days.

* * *

 _"Already out of juice..."_

 _"Record, why are you here?"_

 _"O-Oh! Nothing much. I'm just testing the newly manufactured equipment right now... There's a small problem with them."_

 _"What?"_

 _"The recording function is of average quality, however the recordings lasts barely the amount of time then the current generation."_

 _"How short?"_

 _"Thirty minutes of recording per day compared to the 48 hours per week."_

 _"Terrible, you plan on reporting this?"_

 _"Hopefully, I still have the Kami situation to worry about and the well being about my current subject."_

 _"That Casca lady?"_

 _"The one and only."_

 _"Well... Make file a report and get back the current gen recorders, especially when concerning a world like this one."_

 _"Roger dodger!"_

 _End Recording._

 **Hey kids, I live! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I just woke up from a two hour nap and wrote this weird thing. I have no idea where I'm going with this, bit I'll fix up this chapter a little tomorrow, I have rushed this.**

 **(this is also like, the shortest chapter I've ever done in my life)**

 **If people who read my other Digital RWBY Saga, I have news for you.**

 **Unfortunately, I am currently lacking motivation to write anything from DRS. Hopefully if I write more of this I can get back to it.**

 **So please fav, follow and especially review if you've enjoyed this first chapter.**

 **And I hope you all have a great day.**

 **Ciao~**

 **EDIT: I fixed up the chapter a bit, fixed some of the dialogue as well. The next chapter should be out tomorrow or the day after.**


	2. Prologue to a Daily Life

**53 Lies and Counting.**

 _Chapter 2: Prologue to a Daily Life._

 _Begin Recording 321drv111-0_ _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **In this chapter, I try and remember how to write!**_

 ** _Especially the kubs._**

 _ **I'm also gonna mix up some of the names with the Japanese version, along with Gonta's speech.**_

 _ **.**_

"So. How did you gain your talent?"

Rantaro hummed again, fiddling with a silver ring on a finger in thought.

How was he going to do this... He accidentally let his talent slip, which was the newer talent and not the older one, and now Kaede was going to ask questions about why he had such a talent and he had no idea what to say. There was no way in hell telling her the truth would end well for anyone, especially him if Tsumugi ever found out.

Well, he would become guacamole faster, that was for sure.

So what would the back story be?

"...Rantaro?"

"Ah, my talent. I can't remember."

Kaede tilted her head in confusion. "Oh, what do you mean?"

Rantaro rubbed his head in thought, hoping to whatever God there was out there that this would work. "Well, I remember my talent but... I don't actually remember why and how I got it. It's all... It feels like, my memories just fell apart, I can remember small fragments but..."

Rantaro trailed off, quickly becoming nervous and uncertain.

Kaede crossed her arms, thinking to herself. "Really?

Shuichi, confused, spoke up, "That's odd. Why are your memories-"

"Well, I did hit my head earlier, maybe I can't remember because of that." Rantaro suggested. "The locker I was stuck in wouldn't open, I think the door was broken as it just refused to budge."

"Then how did you-"

 **"Rise and shine, ursine-!"**

Five familiar, child like voices rang out throughout the room as an even more familiar tune started to play in the background. One by one the Monokids began to pop all and within a few seconds Monotaro, Monophanie, Monosuke, Monokid and Monodam popped up out of the floorboards with a cheer.

That was when he heard it, a faint background tune.

'Even their theme song is playing?!'

"Rise and shine, ursine!" Monotaro repeated happily.

"Ahhh! You guys again?!"

The red and white bear ignored Kaede's outburst and instead turned his attention towards Rantaro. He held up his hands, yelled,

"Father! You came back!"

And jumped into his arms and started to hug his chest.

Both Kaede and Shuichi looked dumbfounded at what they were looking at. One of the Monokubs from before, one of the bears that has them trapped here-

Called Rantaro father?

They both looked at each other, slowly coming to the same conclusion. Didn't that mean that Rantaro also trapped them here? That he's one of their kidnappers? Or was the strange stuffed animal lying.

Monophanie bristled, "Monotaro, no! That is not daddy! Daddy is far more handsome than this bastard!"

The comment made Rantaro frown, "That's incredibly rude. Where are your manners young lady?"

The pink bear huffed. "You don't deserve them! Give him back!"

He couldn't help but chuckle as he stroked the bears scalp, feeling the soft artificial fur and the cold metal underneath his finger tips. He was having far too much fun with this he had to admit. "Monotaro, how are you feeling?"

"M'tired."

Monokid burst out laughing at the situation in front of him, taking out another small guitar. Monosuke sighed, taking out an abacus. "Looks like the door caused more memory problems than before. Oh well, hopeful father can fix him when he comes back."

"Memory problems?"

"Listen well youse bastards, because I'm gonna explain this once." Monosuke took out a few yen bills with Monokuma's face printed on the front and began to fan himself, the abacus disappearing from sight. "As we explained earlier to you two," He began, referring to Kaede and Shuichi, "this is the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles and that there are 16 of you all."

"That's right, this academy was made for you sixteens cretins." Monophanie continued sweetly, despite her words. "However as you may have noticed this academy is incomplete. No thanks to these two," she motioned towards Monosuke and Monokid, "We had to make a rush job concerning certain items, including the lockers and Ultimate Labs."

"The lockers you trapped us in?"

"Yep!" Monotaro rubbed his head against Rantaro's chest with affection. "Umm. But some of the lockers had faulty locks and hinges so umm... What were we talking about again?"

"...YOU-HAD-A-BAD-LOCKER. WE-APOLOGISE."

Monokid laughed, hitting Monodam with his guitar, which once again broke. "Hell yeah! You broke the door off and crushed Monotaro. Now he thinks your his son!"

"...Monokid I think you've mixed up a word there."

"They're the Monokubs, we're the humans! Monotaro thinks he's a Monokub!"

"...I think Monokid broke again."

"Great."

"Dummy."

Monotaro laughed. "Father, are you feeling alright? You must have hit you're head if you can't remember this."

Rantaro put the cub down, who seemed to protest before Monophanie took his paw and dragged him to the rest of the Monokubs. "Well, thanks for the information. Is there any particular reason why you came to see us?"

"Naw, not really." Monosuke shrugged. "We just needed to confirm something, plus Monotaro wanted to see you-"

"After you manipulated him, you bastard!"

Rantaro couldn't help but mentally roll his eyes at the pink bear. 'What ever you say incest bear.'

But what did they need to confirm?

"Well then. After you all introduced your self to the rest of the students, you all are gonna be doing an activity later." Monosuke chuckled, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Well then, with that all done..."

 **"So Long! Bear Well!"**

And just like that they all left one by one.

The trio was silent, so awkwardly silent you could hear a pin drop.

"So..." Rantaro piped up, hoping to break the silence. "That answers your question right? The door was jammed and I fell on top of one of the cubs and, well, you saw the result yourself." He paused. "Can I ask you guys a question?"

"Huh, oh, of course."

"Can I tag along for a bit?" He unconsciously started to fidget with his bracelets. "I want to explore the school and meet everyone but I'm a little anxious to go around on my own. Plus I want to be near someone just in case I passed out again."

"Does that happen often?" Shuichi asked.

"No, not really. But sometimes when I've passed out I tend to pass out again shortly after. So I just want to be careful, y'know?"

"I guess that makes sense." Kaede nodded to herself, the ahoge on her head curling downward. He was getting awfully distracted by that thing. "Oh, do you have your Monopad on you?"

Rantaro blinked.

"Then that means this is yours. Shuichi!"

The detective walked up to him, handing him something that resembled a black and white tablet. "This was on one of the tables, is it yours?"

Rantaro thanked him, turning on the Monopad, he was greeted with his name which was shortly followed by the familiar menu screen from the game, except the colour scheme was green and black instead of the blue/pink and back background.

Along with an extra icon that was never there in the game.

He nodded. "It has my name, so yes. Thank you very much."

"Shall we get going then?"

"Of course."

 **Beep!**

 **You obtained a Friendship Fragment!**

 **Kaede Akamatsu fragments, 1/6.**

 **Beep!**

 **You obtained a Friendship Fragment!**

 **Shuichi Saihara fragments, 1/6.**

Rantaro looked at his Monopad to check the sudden notifications. _'So I do get fragments, that's interesting.'_

"Rantaro?"

"Oh sorry, the beeping startled me. Let's get going then shall we?"

* * *

As soon as they had left the classroom, the newly formed trio were immediately greeted by a certain, blue haired girl hanging outside the room, a worried expression on her face yet slight curiosity in her eyes behind her glasses.

Kaede waved at the girl in greeting while Shuichi adjusted his cap and averted his eyes.

Rantaro, on the other hand, froze in fear.

"Hey Tsumugi."

"Hey Kaede, Shuichi, is this the guy who screamed?"

Kaede nodded, not noticing how the green haired teen was fidgeting nervously behind her and how obviously he wanted to be anywhere but here. "Poor guy passed out, isn't that right Rantaro?"

Tsumugi Shirogane tilted her head at Rantaro. "Oh really now?" She rested her chin on her fist as she crossed her other arm across her chest. "Are you alright?"

"I'm... I'm better. Just a panic attack, that's all."

He was five seconds away from actually having one if he didn't jump out the nearest window, anything to get away from her.

"A panic attack?" She repeated. "Shame I can't cast Amrita to make you feel better, does it even cure panic attacks?"

Both Kaede and Shuichi looked confused. Amrita?

Rantaro on the other hand-

"Amrita... Isn't that a Persona- no, a Shin Megami Tensei healing spell that heals aliments?"

That was the wrong thing to say, as Tsumugi's eyes lit up like a child on Christmas day. "You got that reference?!"

'Did... Did that count as a reference?' He wasn't sure.

She wasn't done yet though, it had only just begun.

"I was awake on that day! The day everything came to an end!"

"Highschool of the Dead."

"What other popular manga did the creator of Gantz make that's getting an adaptation?"

"Inuyashiki: Last Hero?"

"What is a crimson behelit?"

"An item from Berserk, also referred as the Egg of the King, it is one of the most recognisable things from Berserk, from its appearance and from the infamous Eclipse scene."

"What influenced manga and anime like Berserk and Evangelion?"

"Devilman, which is getting a 2018 adaptation on Netflix."

"It is?! Um! Haveyouacceptedjesusasyourpersonalsaviour?"

"Ghost Stories. More specifically the English dub. The reason it changed from the original was because it didn't sell well so the creators wanted the English casting team to change it up as long as they kept to certain rules. These rules included keeping the main casts names the same, including the spirits as their based on real Japanese and Chinese mythology and keeping the sealing method for each spirit the same. Everything was fair game, which meant-"

"That the Ghost Stories English dub is considered to one of the best English dubs out there!"

Tsumugi clapped her hands in joy, clearly pleased that someone understood what she was talking about. "Finally, a plain girl like me has a fellow brother I can talk my about my interests in!"

Neither Kaede or Shuichi understood what the hell either of them were on about.

"Can you introduce yourself..?"

"Oh sorry! Where are my manners? My name is Tsumugi Shirogane, I'm the **_Ultimate Cosplayer._** "

"Cosplayer huh?"

The final trial case of V3 entered his mind. Those cosplaying qualities of hers were quite... Terrifying, to say the least.

He did his best fake smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you Tsumugi. My name is Rantaro Amami."

"Nice to meet you too Rantaro. What is your Ultimate talent?"

"Well-"

"Heeey! What are you all doing?

The conversation was interrupted as a male voice rang out through the hallway. A boy with with strange white clothes, long wavy purple hair and checkered scarf was casually walking up to them with a big grin on his babyish face, which Rantaro had noticed was slightly red and wet.

And suddenly Rantaro wanted to kiss Kokichi from getting briefly him out of the situation.

He casually waved at him, completely ignoring Tsumugi. "Hey! Can we help you?"

Kokichi Ouma, the Ultimate Little Shit, waved back and walked up to him. "Hey new people, hey otaku girl! Have you seen a robot walking around?"

"What? A robot?!"

Rantaro raised a brow. _'Was he not with Kiibo?'_ "No, I don't think so, why?"

"I wanted to touch him a little! I've never seen a robot before so I got curious!"

"..."

"But then he ran away. Now I can't find him."

"..."

"I've always wanted to be friends with one too."

"...I see."

 _'Poor Kiibo.'_

"Soo~ What's your talent?"

Kokichi, for a split second paused at Rantaro's question, his expression blank before disappearing. "Oh? Me?" Kokichi pointed to himself, an innocent expression on his face which quickly turned into a terrible grin. "My name is Kokichi Ouma, the _**Ultimate Supreme Leader**_!"

Poor Kaede looked confused, most likely trying to figure out his talent.

"Ultimate... Supreme Leader?"

"I also learned the hard way that a robot's breath smells like gasoline. Not surprising though."

"My breath does NOT smell like gasoline! I am powered by electricity!"

The robot himself came out from a corner that lead to the stairs, looking mighty peeved at his lying. With silver-ish white hair sporting a long ahoge and his body consisting of metal plating and two metal buttons on his chest and stomach, Kiibo stood near the stairs with irritation on his face.

"There he is!"

"Wait." Kaede muttered to herself. "He's a robot, like, for reals, an actual robot?"

Shuichi seemed to have come to a different conclusion however.

"A-Are you... One of the Monokubs-"

"Do not compare me to those toys!" Kiibo yelled. "I am not just any robot! I am K1-B0, the **_Ultimate Robot_**! But please address me as Kiibo!"

"Ultimate Robot?" Kaede asked, not entirely sure if he heard him right.

"That's not faaair!" Kokichi whinned, "You can't steal my spotlight! Especially a since you're just a robot."

"I do not appreciate you're robophobic remarks, especially you're attempt at humour."

"Of course you wouldn't understand humour. Robot's can't understand human humour or basic human emotions to begin with!"

"D-do not mock me! I have studied the complete history of stand-up comedy!" Kiibo retorted, making Kaede roll her eyes from the situation. _'He should of watched it rather than study it.'_ She thought.

"I also have at least a basic understanding of human emotions, and I know those tears you were crying earlier were not fake."

 _'Wait what.'_

"Nee-heehee!" Kokichi did his signature laugh. "But that was just a lie, no? Good old crocodile tears."

"Urggh!"

Suddenly the air around Rantaro grew incredibly tense. He could feel the air around grow dense, becoming more thicker and solid as it began to slowly crush him, his body; especially his chest felt like it was stuck in a vice. His gut once again felt like it was twisting in uncomfortable tight knots, he felt himself grow warmer, he felt a cold sweat on his body start to form.

He felt sick.

He felt absolutely awful.

He felt like the world was about to crush him, swallow him up and spit him back out.

And no one would care.

"Rantaro..?"

Everyone stopped talking when they heard Kaede's worried voice. Rantaro was sweating, his eyes were dilated and his breathing short and shallow.

He covered his mouth and immediately ran down the stairs.

He ignored their calls.

He ignored the beeps from his Monopad.

And he never noticed that someone was chasing after him.

* * *

The world around him spun, never relenting even as he continued to lean over and retch into the toilet. No matter how long he stayed there, he still felt his insides twist and pull and his muscles burn like he just ran a marathon.

He heaved and panted before collapsing to the side of the stall and gasping for air, the pain on his body slowly dulling.

He turned on his Monopad, hissing as the bright light stung his eyes. He began to check for a certain something, something only he had.

 _ **Survivor Perk.**_

 ** _Clue to end the killing game._**

 ** _The mastermind who_** ** _behind the killing game is hiding somewhere within this academy._**

 ** _Your best chance of exposing them is when Monokuma needs a spare._**

 ** _At that time, the mastermind will go to the library's hidden room._**

 ** _To prove that this hint is accurate, I will predict something._**

 ** _The first thing you will remember is the Ultimate Hunt._**

 ** _Only share this information with people you know you can trust._**

 ** _How you determine that will mean your life or your death._**

 ** _Rantaro Amami._**

The teen scrolled through his Monopad, shuffling on the clean toilet floors. Along with the hint his pad came with, it also came with the map of the whole academy like the normal pads. It showed that he was in the Hallway 1F and that he was...

In the girls bathroom.

 _'Not a girl anymore. Forgot about that.'_

Unlike the other pads on the other hand, it also showed the secret room that was connected to the library.

'Just like the game...'

He bit his thumb. How exactly was he going to to do this?

The best idea was to tell someone, more specifically Kaede and (especially) Shuichi. However telling them right now probably wouldn't be a good idea, maybe when the situation called for it, then defiantly.

But would it change things?

Would, by sheer Komaeda levels of luck, they be able to stop Tsumugi and stop the killing game? Would the outside world let them go free for any reason?

Or would it cause a completely different murder and lead into something akin to a different route? A route of new motives, victims and murderers?

Or would nothing change, he would die and trigger the killing game.

The more he would think about it, the more he was growing uncertain. If he did nothing like the game and pursued the hidden room on his own, he would die, Kaede would be framed for the murder and the killing game will continue.

So that was a definite no no.

If he told someone about the hidden room, the murder will probably be averted and he would live, but someone would else would probably be killed and the path will continue a different path.

Possible.

Or if they all worked together, along with some hints, they could stop the killings altogether.

Very low possibilities.

But he was going to try.

 _You will just die though._

A voice echoed in his head, a voice that filled him with cold dread.

 _Someone as useless as you would never live. Even as a man._

He hugged his legs close to his chest, gently rocking himself back and forth.

 _You will die regardless of what you do. You would never stop the killing game because of how worthless and insignificant you are._

He covered his ears, trying to block out the voice.

 _Useless useless useless useless useless useless._

He choked back a cry.

 _You were never-_

"Never what?"

Silence. The voice had left.

In response he smashed his fist against the door, causing a large bang to echo throughout the room, causing him to flinch at the noise.

"Oh? Is my beloved Rantaro in here?"

He froze, was that-

"Kokichi?"

"Nee-heehee! The one and only! Or is that also a lie?"

He put his hands on the toilet seat, nearly misplacing his hand and slipping inside the toilet. He opened the bathroom door and peeked outside to see a grinning Kokichi.

"Does my beloved Rantaro realise he's in the girls bathroom? Are you secretly a pervert or a you hiding a dirty little secret from me?"

"...It was the closest toilet." He muttered quietly. "Also I'm not a girl," not anymore anyway, "nor am I trans."

Wait.

"Why are you calling me your beloved?"

"Were you crying earlier? You look like shit."

Silence.

A nod.

"What's the matter?"

Rantaro looked at him in surprise. Kokichi had a rare serious expression on his face and the tone in his voice was devoid of his usual cheer and quirks. Knowing full well that Kokichi wouldn't let up, he began to speak. "I'm just... A little overwhelmed, I guess. I just woke up in a locker for no reason and-"

Kokichi walked up to him and tip toed, putting his hands on his shoulders. "Didn't I tell you before that I'm not fond of liars?"

"Huh?"

He paused. "Did I ever say that to you?" He shook his head. "Tell me the truth. Do you remember?"

'What was he talking about?' Rantaro had no idea what he was on about at all. They only just met unless-

Unless... It couldn't be.

"Time was running out, you were heading to the library after Kaito dragged you along to fight off death." Kokichi started and Rantaro couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You headed to the library to get to the hidden room and a flash caught your attention, you went to go see what it was-"

"I was killed."

Kokichi stared at him. Rantaro continued, "I was killed from blunt trauma to the head by a shot put."

They were both quiet, Kokichi had an unreadable expression on his face and Rantaro was starting to sweat the longer Kokichi said nothing. He opened his mouth to speak, to confirm what he said-

Then Kokichi laughed.

"Nee-heehee! But that's a lie though. I really just made that up, your so weird when you-"

He stopped, noticing that Rantaro was shaking, holding back choked sobs.

Tears were running down his face.

He remembered.

He remembered.

He remembered.

He remembered.

"You remember..." He hiccuped. He didn't care how he looked right now. "How do you..."

He collapsed onto the floor, accidentally taking Kokichi down with a yell.

The dam broke, he sobbed into the shorter boys chest, who had quietly and uncharacteristically began to stroke and pat his back.

As Rantaro continued to cry on top of him, Kokichi looked at the ceiling.

He woke up in a locker as soon as the hydraulic press had started to touch him and everything was going dark. He saw Kiibo and Gonta, who had already gone outside, and the emotions, the memories, the pain suddenly crashed down on him all at once, not unlike the press.

He cried, he had cried for awhile and it was the first time he had cried since coming to this damn academy.

He did in front of Kiibo as well.

He nearly did it again when he heard Kaede's and his beloved Rantaro's voice, two people who died, one he was oddly fond of.

They were alive. They were all alive.

But.

He clenched the taller boys shirt in his fists. They were all going to die again. Nothing would change and he would go through all of it again.

But he noticed how Rantaro was acting. How... Out of character he was.

He was nervous, fidgeting, and looked like he was about to have a breakdown. It told him that something was wrong with Rantaro.

And he remembered. He was scared, he was disoriented.

But he remembered, he was alive.

As his sobs started to turn into quiet sniff and small coughs, he felt determined.

(and in pain and hard to breath as a 5'10 man was crushing him, who was 5'1 and much lighter)

If Rantaro had the the clues to find the mastermind.

Then they could end this killing game for good.

* * *

 _Warning. Time anomaly found. Would you like to erase the anomaly?_

 _NO._

 _Warning. Not deleting the anomaly can cause potential damage to this world and the Data Stream. Are you okay with possible damage to the system?_

 _YES._

 _Acknowleged. The anomaly Kokichi Ouma will not be erased._

 _Do you wish to send Afterlifer Rantaro Amami a gift?_

 _YES._

 _How many?_

 _TWO._

 _Understood._ _Please put down the names, the gifts will be loaded into Afterlifer Rantaro Amami's Haven after a small amount of time has past after loading._

 _CLOSE._

 _Understood. Closing down._

 _End Recording._

 **Next chapters should be longer hopefully for now on.**

 **This is starting to sound similar to KlonoaDreams Clair de Lune, but I was planning this story before I realised that story even existed so, yeah. So we have instead a OCInsert!Rantaro and a Timelooping Kokichi.**

 **I was having trouble writing the chapter, I was having trouble with writing the charaters and such, but I'll probably fix this up like with what I did for the first chapter if it bugs me too much.**

 **Well, regardless, I hope you guys enjoyed the newest chapter. Please fav, follow and especially review. It lets me know you guys are enjoying this story, cause despite the difficulties I'm having fun writing this!**

 **Have a great day you guys!**


	3. A Simple Revision For Simple Ultimate's

**53 Lies and Counting.**

 _Chapter 3: A simple revision for simple Ultimates_.

 _._

 _Begin Recording 321drv111-0_ _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 **Part 1 of proper introductions begin, and our duo immediately notices somethings wrong with the people they once knew.**

 _ **.**_

They had been on the restroom floor for a few minutes, Rantaro cries were quieting and becoming small hiccups and coughs, and Kokichi was still underneath him, patting his back even as the taller boy's weight started to properly crush him.

The smaller boy, even though he never really knew Rantaro and never really had a proper conversation with him, had never seen him like this before. Back then, he was an enigma. He was mysterious, brave, alluring, and had such insight about the Killing Game that it made him wonder that he was in one before, or at least a similar situation. But he was also carefree and relaxed, and his unknown talent had never seemed to bother him at all.

He really interested Kokichi, he really did.

He was very much unlike Kokichi, who broke down others to the core to get goals that, while good, the path was violent and hateful.

(plus he was also very good looking and handsome but he wasn't going to admit that shush)

The few chats he did have with him back then told him a lot, yet very little.

He could tell he was somewhat used to people similar to him, how he would patiently listen to his lies and sometimes ruffle his hair (which made his affection starved state want more, yet the contact made him freeze in fear, made him uncomfortable). He would even listen to people like Miu, freaking Miu, with the patience of a saint, which told him he was used to people like her as well.

It was almost big brotherly.

(maybe he was a big brother?)

But sometimes he would act suddenly cold and his expressions were frightening whenever he was serious, and that only happened once, as much as could currently remember.

But seeing him like this, an emotional mess on top of him... It was so odd, so strange. So...

Out of character.

(He wanted to peel away his skin, his flesh, his bone to see the core of his very being. He wanted to see if he was a gorgeous being of love and selfless devotion or a disgusting mass of flesh and puss who leeched on others and destroyed peoples trust and faith, very much like himself.)

But considering whats happened, even people like Rantaro could break under the right circumstances.

Kokichi certainly did, breaking down in front of Kiibo of all people (a robot, he corrected himself) for a good few minutes.

He lied throughout the killing game, even as he was growing closer to breaking as more people were killed and executed, even as everyone hated him and more so after persuading them he was the mastermind.

He lied to Shuichi, perhaps one of the only people left he could properly trust and open himself up to (with time of course, no thanks to his paranoia).

He lied to Kaito about how he was completely willing to die to end the Killing Game (even though he was so, very afraid).

But he lied to himself most of all. He lied to himself how it would all be okay. How lied to himself about his nature, how he would lie to everyone with it.

(he especially lied to himself in the fourth trial concerning Gonta, to the point he lost bits of his sanity. How could he send someone as dumb and innocent as Gonta to his execution?)

(Of course. He remembered. To make him the villain, the mastermind behind all of their misery)

But then being suddenly brought to life, being brought back to the very first day of their hellish academy life.

It was completely surreal seeing everyone who died come back to life, with no memories of the future events.

He had, for whatever reason, time looped.

He wasn't sure if it was a dream created from his failing sanity, a wicked punishment by some God, or if he had really time looped.

But regardless. He wasn't alone.

After a few more minutes Rantaro got up off of him, wiping the wet patches (and snot) off his face. "Sorry, are you alright?"

Kokichi sat up, a goofy smile on his own face despite how messy his clothes were now. "Nee-heehee! My dearest Rantaro messed up my uniform!" He teased, watching as the taller boys cheeks turn a light shade of pink of embarrassment. "When we get out, my super secret organisation is gonna kidnap you and make you wash all of my clothes! Then we'll blackmail you into joining and make sure you will never leave!"

"...But that's a lie right?"

"Mayyybe? Who knows?" He grinned. "But I have no problems if you want to join!"

Rantaro couldn't help but ruffle his hair, catching him by surprise. "I'll think about it."

Kokichi grumbled, pushing off the hand (with regret) and crossed his arms, huffing like a spoiled brat.

This caused Rantaro to laugh. "Okay, okay, I'll stop..." He stopped laughing, looking at Kokichi with a serious expression. "Hey. Can we talk about this another time?" He asked, looking around the restroom with suspicion. "Before we confirm this, I want to check if something else has changed. You know, see if anyone else is looping."

"Oh?"

"Just in case. Also..." He bit his lip. "There's something I want to confirm."

Kokichi looked at him, clearly wanting a better explanation. When Rantaro said nothing, he let out an exaggerated sigh. "I trust you, my dearest Rantaro."

(He didn't, he needed proper proof. He put some trust in Miu and Gonta and look what happened)

"Thank you. Let's go."

But even though he said that, he made no move towards to the exit, he stayed in one spot, his eyes distant, clearly lost in thought.

He stayed there for a few seconds, and when he showed signs of moving-

Glomp!

"...What are you doing?"

Kokichi had grabbed onto his arm tightly, very much like how a person in a relationship would grab onto their significant other, and looked up at him with glee in his eyes. "What else? I'm gonna show the whoooole world that we love each other of course! What else would you call this bond between partners?"

He had to put his trust in Rantaro, even if it's just for a short time. Even if it was risky, even if it would hurt him. Even though he would lie right in his face. His paranoia be damned, he knew deep down Rantaro wasn't an awful person.

"Partners is a broad term." Rantaro stated, scratching at his arm. He was surprised about the sudden affection from the shorter boy. "Are we partners in the romantic sense? The robbers sense? The crime fighters sense?"

"All of them!"

He snorted at the answer.

They had to work together to end this game for good, if not, save as many as they could. They were quite possibly the only ones who could after all, especially with the knowledge Kokichi (and technically Rantaro) has confirmed.

Kokichi tugged at his arm, eyeing his knife with caution, for some reason quite eager to leave.

And with that they made their way towards the exit.

Unknown to Rantaro, however, Kokichi began to quickly lose his smile as he squeezed his arm, noticing something very strange when his fingers struggled to push against his soft skin.

The arm he was holding was dead cold, rock solid.

He felt like a corpse, stiff and frozen.

* * *

It hasn't even been an hour (he thinks anyway) and Rantaro has most likely already fucked up.

It was all normal at first, he was extremely emotional after multiple times of him having some form of break down and being sick, some breakdowns were defiantly caused by the suddenness of the situation and how he took emotional situations.

He used to bawl a lot because of how empathetic and overly sensitive he could be at times, he would cry if someone was upset, even with people he didn't know, and he hated how tears would threaten to show if someone cried.

He still does it now.

And he hates it.

It was pathetic.

But then when Kokichi started to talk about things he shouldn't know about yet, how he died and how the Killing Game continued. Kokichi was in a time loop (most likely the first one) and he had taken the original's place.

He couldn't help it. He couldn't stop the tears that spilled out like a violent waterfall.

He cried out, he cried out how he had remembered, right in front of Kokichi.

And right in front of the potential Nanokuma's.

The realisation had made him freeze in fear. The plans of stopping the Killing Game may have been halted because of his sheer stupidity and forgetfulness.

But he couldn't tell Kokichi, he wasn't even sure he was aware of the Nanokuma's existence.

Damn it damn it damn it.

But, if he remembered correctly, Kokichi did have suspicions of being watched, didn't he believe that the 'bugs' that Gonta saw had something to do with it? He couldn't remember.

Of course, this was Kokichi, one of the smartest and perceptive Danganronpa characters around. And perhaps one of the most confusing.

(How on earth could he even begin to understand someone as complicated as him?)

He hated his forgetfulness.

That was when he realised something else.

'Shit, I'm gonna have to stay in character with Kokichi around as well as Tsumugi won't I?'

Now his mood went even lower than before. He was never fond of role-playing as other characters, especially if he wasn't that familiar with them and they had personalities that he couldn't replicate too well.

Maybe it would be easier with Kokichi, he didn't know him too well after all. But Tsumugi had basically written the old Rantaro from the ground up, gave him a background, personality, interest, the whole lot. She knew him because she built him.

He and Rantaro were very different. For example, while the original was anxious about his missing sisters and being trapped, he was constantly anxious about everything and felt like a million tiny voices were screaming at him 24/7. Was he doing this right? Did he look fine? Was there a tear in his jeans? Would others like him?

Why would anyone like someone like you? A voice hissed. He could feel something cold crawling under his skin, wriggling like maggots. You were never perfect like other people, that's why you're existence is miserable and it spreads to others. They only stick with you because they want to take advantage of you. But they won't stick with someone as filthy as you for too long.

He clenched his eyes shut, trying to block out the voice and the crawling-

"Ah, Rantaro? Kokichi?"

And suddenly, just like it never happened, it was gone.

Kaede, Shuichi and Kiibo, surprisingly were outside. It looked like Shuichi was just about to enter the men's bathroom before Rantaro and Kokichi had decided to come out of the women's bathroom.

It was certainly interesting, watching two teenage boys walk out of a women's restroom with one clinging to the other like a large koala.

"Ummm... Why are you..?"

Rantaro opened his mouth-

"Nee-heehee! Me and Rantaro were planning a murder, see?" Kokichi snickered, still clinging to Rantaro's arm. "We're going to have a friendly competition and I plan on winning!"

"Wh-What?"

Rantaro sighed, once again ruffling his hair but with more force, causing the shorter boy to grunt at the friction on his head and let go of his arm. "Don't worry, he's only lying."

Kokichi pouted. "Jeez, you're no fun."

"Are you feeling better?"

Rantaro smiled at Kaede. "Yep, I was just sick again, nothing much."

"Are... Are you sure?" She questioned. "I heard you crying in there."

"...I wasn't crying." Rantaro answered, looking somewhat uncomfortable.

"But-"

"Jeez Kaede, he wasn't crying at all." Kokichi huffed. "Sure he screamed when I kicked him but-"

"And why did you kick me again?" Rantaro crossed his arms and faked a look of annoyance at Kokichi. The lie was rather weak, he had to admit, but he really didn't want to explain what happened in there.

He hated explaining to others why he would suddenly cry (or have an anxiety/panic attack), for one it repetitive and annoying and two there were certain people out there that would mock and make fun of him, which made him feel absolutely awful.

He knew these people to an extent, but still...

Kokichi cheekily winked at him and stuck out his tongue.

Kiibo shot him a weary look. "Just ignore him. Everything he had been saying til now has been a lie, so he'll just lie again..."

"Kii-boy!" Kokichi let out a fake gasp, covering his heart with his hand in mock hurt. "I thought you were my best friend?!"

"I am-"

"Oh well." And just like that the Ultimate Supreme Leader shrugged and once again clung to Rantaro's arm, nearly flinching at the sudden cold. "I have a new best friend who's going to become my new minion of my super secret organisation. A human is more better suited for the job than a robot anyway."

"Why you-"

"You said that were a leader of an organisation right?"

Kokichi tilted his head at Kaede's question, flat out ignoring Kiibo. "A 'supreme' leader actually! I lead my evil secret organisation that has over 10,000 people in it that all follow yours truly."

"An organisation with over 10,000 members?" Shuichi looked at him curiously. "I've never heard of an organisation like that before..."

"Duh, because its a super secret evil organisation!" Kokichi repeated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Of course a detective like you hasn't heard of it."

"What's the organisation's name then?"

"Nee-heehee! I'm not telling youuuuuu!" With eagerness, he tugged on Rantaro's arm. "Come on Rantaro, let's explore!"

"Wait, hold on-"

Rantaro couldn't even finish his sentence as Kokichi started to drag him off into a nearby corridor to the left of the restrooms, he gave the three a somewhat casual and apologetic wave as Kokichi dragged him off to another corner, and before he knew it they were in the warehouse.

The first thing he noticed was it stunk, rather badly. It smelt like a mixture of mould and rotten egg that made his eyes sting and his nose wrinkle. It was starting to make him gag slightly, any stronger and he would throw up again.

'I might as well throw up my lungs at this rate.'

Kokichi could smell it too, he covered his nose and mouth at the horrible smell, "Was Miu-bitch here?" He joked, taking out his Monopad and looked at the map, his eyes starting to water. "Uhhh... There's no one in here and no one who can bother us without any warning." He gagged. Poor thing looked like he was about to keel over.

"Can we... Urgh. Can we go elsewhere?"

He shook his head. "Nu-uh... This is the only safe spot at the moment, and I still want to ask you some questions, my beloved Rantaro."

'This was a safe spot?'

"Couldn't have just asked when we were in the restrooms?"

"Not good enough. The walls are barely sound proof in there and these are important questions."

He was about to ask why he knew that, but didn't bother.

"All right. What do you need?"

Kokichi had a big smile on his face. "Nee-heehee! For you to become my minion of course! I've always wanted a new minion to do my naughty deeds." His expression softened. "How much do you remember?"

Rantaro paused, tapping his arm with a finger. What should he say and shouldn't say? He already let out that he had a talent so he couldn't lie about that, he had the Survivor Perk on him... He may tell him about that after some considerations, should he also tell him about his death in more detail?

The smell in the air had faded to the point that it didn't bother them anymore.

'Well, here goes.'

"Not too much. But I mostly remember my previous loop... I suppose." More like he remembered someone else's life. "Some of it is messy right now, but there are definitely some things I remember?

"How much?"

"I remember most of my time here and some of you guys, like how Shuichi would follow Kaede like a puppy, Maki being anti-social and you complaining about the shortage of grape panta, was it?"

"Yep, only known to be the best drink in the universe."

"What else... Oh, my talent, I remember it."

"You do?"

Rantaro nodded, quietly noting how much attention Kokichi was paying. "I'm the **Ultimate Survivor**. I don't know how I got it, but that is my talent."

"Survivor..."

"And apparently, because of my talent I received something called the Survivor's Perk." He brought up the message on his Monopad and showed him. "It's the reason I asked about the Ultimate Hunt and why I had gone to the library before..."

"Before you were killed by Kaede."

Rantaro bit his lip. He wasn't going to tell him, but he needed to know.

"What do you mean?"

"Kaede killed you. She set up a trap to kill the Mastermind, but she miscalculated and got you killed instead." Kokichi sounded almost upset and bitter. "It involved the bookcase and the shot put rolling down the books she had organised. She got caught in the end and was rightfully executed."

"...Oh, so that explains where that shot ball came from."

He was going to ignore that last part, he didn't know after all.

Kokichi looked at him confused, but he continued regardless. "A flash caught my attention, so I went to check it out when a shot put ball from this warehouse fell down next to me, because of that and the music... I never saw the person who smashed in my head in time."

The shorter boy was silent, taking this in.

"...Did you see them?"

He shook his head, "No, I didn't, I can't remember if I did anyway. It's all blurry."

"It was rigged..."

Kokichi's face suddenly adopted one of his terrifying expressions, his face went pale and a twisted, sharp edged grin was etched onto his face. "I knew it. The mastermind really did rig the murder." A dark chuckle escaped his mouth. "Nee-heehee... I thought something was strange. After the trial I noticed that your Monopad was missing, even though the pictures showed otherwise. Never thought that the mastermind would be a cheater, pretty boring if I said so myself. But it proves it."

"Proves... What?"

"Nee-heehee! We ARE being watched."

He was confused, before quickly remembering that Kokichi had his suspicions about this much later in the game. 'Yeah, I was right, he had suspected that they were being watched. That was why he asked Miu to make the Bug-vac.'

"The mastermind clearly wants to please whoever's watching, otherwise they wouldn't be setting up these rules in the first place." He held his arms behind his head. "After all, why make a killing game with such detail and rules if no one is-"

He suddenly went dead silent, his hand covering his mouth, confusing Rantaro before he heard the doors of the ware house open with a loud noise. He turned towards the door and saw-

"Bwahahahaha! I am interrupting something boys? Were you about to blow each other like the virgins you are?"

Miu Iruma in all her sexual glory and long blond hair, spitting as she laughed loudly and began to walk towards them.

Her loud and boistrous laugh had pierced his eardrums, and he couldn't help but hiss and cover his ears.

Kokichi, quite used to her, only rolled his eyes and responded, "Oh please, you sound like someone who has big game, but can't even suck a dick to save a life." He snorted. "And at least I don't look like a urine soaked cum dumpster."

'ARE WE DOING THIS RIGHT NOW?!'

He had forgotten how... Raunchy, both Kokichi's and Miu's conversations could be when they talked. He was pretty sure half the reason the game was rated M because of Miu alone, among other things.

And he was certain that this wasn't the time to do this, especially so early.

Miu, at his insults, had started to shudder in fear and nervousness, tears threatening to escape her eyes. "Heee! W-What the hell... Are you getting annoyed for? It was just a joke! T-Tell the world you're sorry for you're rudeness!"

"Oh? Why should I?"

"If- If you startle me into losing motivation, that lose would be felt across the world! And the world isn't ready for that!"

"...Should I recognise you?"

"Huh?" Miu seemed legitimately surprised at that. "S-Seriously? You don't... know who I am? The excellent and gorgeous girl genius who's good looks and golden brain will go down in history?"

The boys just stared at her.

...

"Uggh. It's me! The one and only, **Ultimate Inventor** herself - Miu Iruma?!"

"I think I recognise you?" Rantaro said, hoping to please Miu and making sure Kokichi doesn't make it weirder than it should be. "Aren't you the one who makes those 'do-stuff-while-you-sleep' gadgets?"

The inventor smirked, her nervousness seemingly gone. "Yep, that's right green pubes! I was inspired to make 'em when I realised how much time people wasted sleeping." Miu spat with each word. She looked off to the side, fiddling with the goggles on her head. "Though there was this one time where I invented these really stupid eye drop contact lenses as a gag."

'Green... Pubes?'

Kokichi didn't look too impressed. "Am I supposed to be impressed? Those gadgets are just about as worthless as your existence!"

And in response, Miu, to both of their surprises, looked like she was about to burst out crying. "Heeheee! I'm sorry I insulted you, please don't leave! Do you want me to invent something for you? Do you want gifts? Sex? Anything?!" She got to the ground and bowed, her head resting on the floor. "I'm sorry, I really am!"

...Eh?

Both boys looked at each other in confusion. This was very strange, they had never seen Miu look so... Upset and scared before. Sure she had her nervous and frightened moments whenever someone insulted her, breaking her confident persona, but never to this extreme.

"Hey, sorry about him." Rantaro chuckled, ignoring Kokichi's fake hurt and walking up to Miu. "He's just a little bit of a child to be honest, he didn't mean any of that."

"Actually, Rantaro I wasn't-"

Rantaro got down on his knees and wiped the tears off her cheeks, comforting her. "Easy there, why don't you calm down a little and relax."

He reached out and began to pat her head, gently stroking her with his fingers going through her somewhat messy hair. Miu flinched but after a second almost purred at the contact, clearly enjoying the affection. It made Rantaro feel funny inside, and not the good type of funny either. He wasn't liking the way she was looking at him like a love struck girl.

He was going to regret this later wasn't he?

"Feeling better?"

Miu nodded, clearly dazed. She looked at him, a faint blush on her face along with some drool coming out of her mouth. "Yeah, you have such nice and firm hands..." She giggled to herself, most likely thinking of some dirty joke.

He nearly shuddered, very much uncomfortable when she said that in such a sultry tone.

"But..." She reached for his hand, examining it. "You're so cold, you feel like a corpse."

"I... do?" He felt his arm and frowned. "Quite the opposite, I feel rather warm."

"Mmmhmm... " She purred, nuzzling against his hand. "Anyways," She suddenly broke out of the trance and pointed at Kokichi, with anger and hatred in her eyes, "Listen to me you little shit gremlin, I am the great Miu Iruma and my inventions are not worthless at all, neither is my beautiful and important existence. So you better take it back you fucking micro dicked abortion!"

'Annnnd, she's back.'

 **Beep!**

 **You obtained a Friendship Fragment!**

 **Miu Iruma fragments, 1/6.**

Kokichi quite clearly annoyed, grabbed his arm and, very much like before, started to drag him out of the warehouse. Ignoring Rantaro's protest and Miu's yells of 'now where the fuck are the meds here?!', he exited the room.

"Come on Rantaro, let's go meet everyone else."

"Hey, didn't she seem... A little off than usual?"

"Nee-heehee! Doesn't that bitch always feel off?"

He was about to protest, but saw how Kokichi gave him a knowing look. He must of realised that Miu was acting different than usual, she was more timid and creepy than she was vulgar.

He must of also realised that they were most likely being watched, and until they found a safer spot-

They both came to a silent agreement.

'It wasn't safe to talk right now.'

And so they didn't and slowly began to introduce themselves to the rest of the Ultimate's.

* * *

Rantaro was quite surprised to suddenly hear the speakers blare to life with a loud blast of static as soon as they left the room, a familiar soundtrack playing from them. He couldn't help but hum along with the song 'Beautiful Lie V3', which made him feel more relaxed.

Kokichi merely giggled.

The first destination was the dining hall, the closest to the warehouse. Two people were sitting on the table, both girls, one small and one tall.

The tall girl with long brown hair tied into loose braids, who they both recognised was Tenko, was trying to hold a friendly conversation with the smaller girl with chin length red hair wearing a witch's hat, who they recognised was Himiko, who looked so tired and done with everything.

"Nyeehh... I'm tired... Go away..."

"But you looked so lonely, so I thought I could keep you company!"

"Nyeehh..."

Himiko rested her forehead on the table, adjusting her hat so it rested on the back of her head. Poor Tenko looked dejected, but just quietly sat next to her to keep her company. The sound of the dining hall door opening and closing caught her attention.

And when she saw two boys enter the room, her face nearly cringed at the sight.

But had noticed the smaller one was clinging to the bigger one with affection. The sight made her smile slightly, even if they were potential degenerate males.

"May I help you?"

Both of the boys had paused once again, quite clearly looking confused. But Tenko waited patiently, she had the time didn't she?

Rantaro rubbed the back of his head and let out a nervous laugh. "Oh, sorry. I thought you looked like someone we knew. But we never met before have we?"

Tenko shook her head, she hadn't.

"Well then, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Rantaro Amami, I'm the Ultimate Survivor. This is Kokichi Ouma, he's the Ultimate Supreme Leader."

Tenko nodded, respectfully bowing to the both of them. "It's a pleasure to meet you too," Her tone was gaining energy, her volume raising slightly, "I am Tenko Chabashira, the **Ultimate Akido Master** and defender of girls worldwide."

Rantaro shot Kokichi a look, he wasn't imagining this was he?

Tenko Chabashira, the biggest lesbian in all of planet Earth that somehow makes cartain people thinks she is 100% straight, the strong misandrist, was having a decent conversation with men?

"HAIYAH!" Suddenly she got up from her seat, and with a flair she jumped, backflipped and did a perfect landing on the table, looking ready to fight. "Tell me, why have you come here?"

'When the flip did she become a ninja?'

"Umm... We decided to introduce ourselves to everyone, and you two were the closest so we thought we could introduce ourselves to you." Rantaro bit his lip. "Is that a problem?"

She shook her head with vigour, jumping off the table. "Absolutely not. I just wanted to confirm that you weren't bad degenerates, however it seems I was proven wrong. I apologise to you and you're boyfriend."

He noticed a wool wristband on her wrist, with red and pink colours and white in the centre, which was styled like a flag.

"Hahaha... Thanks, but he's not-"

Kokichi smiled in glee, tugging his arm. "Nee-heehee! Not a problem Tenko, my boyfriend and I were just looking around. What are you up to?"

"Me?" She motioned towards Himiko, who hadn't even acknowledged their existence. "I'm just keeping company to Himiko here. There's potential danger here from degenerates and the unknown, so until she's regained her mana we will stay here."

"Her mana?"

"Ah! Himiko here is the **Ultimate Mage** , she's a real mage with real magic, how cool is that?!" Tenko praised, quite clearly excited. "Isn't that right Himiko?"

The mage lifted up her head and turned towards them. She had dark bags under her eyes and it was quite clear she hadn't slept in a while. "Hold on... She yawned. After a quick stretch, she got up from her chair and introduced herself in the most lethargic and bored sounding tone they had ever heard in their entire lives.

"Prepare to be amazed. Fall to your knees. I am Himiko Yumeno, the **U** **ltimate Mage**."

They were all silent, Rantaro and Kokichi were surprised at how dead she sounded and Tenko hopping up and down on her toes and was doing her best to not squeal at how amazing she thought she was.

"..."

"..."

"..!"

"..."

"But... I'm officially called the **Ultimate Magician**."

"Oh. You should of said that from the start Himiko."

"..." Himiko was silent, thinking. Then, "Nyeehh... But I'm only a magician on paper, I'm a real mage."

"Oh! Oh!" Tenko was waving frantically, excitedly hopping up and down on her feet. "Himiko is a mage from a group called Magic Castle where mages gather, and she happens to be one of youngest top ranked mages there right?!

"...But they're keeping my magic a secret by disguising them as tricks!" The magician looked upset. "Because of this ruse, I became a famous magician around the world for performing tricks. But-" She wiped her eyes, wiping the tears forming in her eyes. "I'm not a magician... I'm a mage... No one believes me..."

"O...Oh."

"Don't be silly Himiko! I believe that you are a brilliant mage and any degenerate male that says otherwise gets a taste of my Neo-Akikido skills!"

'But what about the girls?!'

"Welll~" Kokichi started, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Maybe if you show us your magic and get us out of here, then we'll believe you!"

"...Didn't you hear what I just said you degenerate?"

"Magic isn't all-powerful, I can only do so much." Himiko interrupted. The magician looked tired, clearly expecting disappointment and mockery.

She didn't get that.

"What magic tri- er, spells can you perform?"

Himiko, for a split second, looked started, however she recomposed herself and answered, "Nyeeh... As the Ultimate Mage, I can perform many magic spells of many types. Even from the simplest spells of choosing your selected card and sawing people in half to making someone permanently silent."

'Jeez, that last one sounds a tad threatening.' He couldn't help but think. 'Makes it sounds like she's good at killing people.'

Kokichi seemed to think the same thing, which is why he went to the little shit route and said, "So you can kill people? That sounds so cool!"

Himiko just stared at him, with no emotion on her face. But for whatever reason, it sent a chill up Rantaro's spine.

It was... Unnerving, to say the least.

Tenko, on the other hand, looked at the smaller boy in half disgust and annoyance. "Of course not! Himiko is mage, not a murderer you degenerate male!" She then turned to Rantaro and bowed. "I apologise for insulting your boyfriend, but it's the truth."

"Oh no, don't apologise." Rantaro couldn't help but laugh. He also couldn't be bothered to correct her concerning his 'boyfriend', for Kokichi would just complain about ruining his fun. "He is a degenerate and a pain, so don't apologise for telling the truth." He turned towards the red haired magician. "I would love to see your magic later, do you think you can show me some when you regain you're mana?"

Himiko was silent, nervously twiddling her fingers. "Nyeeh, sure. I can do that."

He couldn't help but smile. Back in the game she was always a personal favourite of his. Solely because he never had any motivation to do anything, very much like her.

"Rantaro~ I thought you loved me!"

They both ignored Kokichi, who quietly pouted. An unsettling smile appeared on Tenko's face. "...You are one of the better degenerates I've ever seen."

 **Beep!**

 **You obtained a Friendship Fragment!**

 **Tenko Chabashira fragments, 1/6.**

 **Beep!**

 **You obtained a Friendship Fragment!**

 **Himiko Yumeno fragments, 1/6.**

"I'll take that as a compliment." He smiled and patted Kokichi's shoulder and pointed towards the door. "We'll have to get going, we still have to meet everyone else."

"Okay then, see you soon!"

"Nyeehh..."

And with that they left the dining hall. With many questions on their mind with no one to answer, willingly or not.

* * *

 **Hoooboy. This chapter...**

 **Basically my computer and laptop had a major malfunction along with the memory stick that kept all of my drafts of 53 Lies that's now all deleted or now longer accessible (goodbye 50+ words of story plots and drafts), so I basically had to re figure it out before I wanted to try something new, something that I wasn't sure was a good idea but kept it in anyway, because I wanted to try something new and unique.**

 **You all might be able to figure out that 'difference' rather quickly.**

 **When it came to writing this, it was nearing 10+ words and many more, so I had to cut it in half, this is the first half and the second half isn't even done yet.**

 **And I'm horrible at writing character introductions and the very beginning of stories. Especially with something like this, I want to explore the characters, but I want to do a decent amount of justice to everyone and that isn't possible (especially with my bias).**

 **Regardless, I hope you all enjoy!**

 **I also hope you all have a wonderful day!**


	4. Start of the Killing Game

**53 Lies and Counting.**

 _Chapter 4: Start of the Killing Game._

 _Begin Recording 321drv111-0_ _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 **In which the second half of introductions begin, strange things happen, Monokuma appears and the Killing Game begins.**

 _ **.**_

"That was probably the most respectful conversation I've ever had with Tenko in my life."

Something was off. Nearly everyone they have met so far had some sort of extra quirk or a somewhat different attitude. Quite honestly it wasn't that noticeable with Miu, she seemed a little more submissive than usual but that was it. Tenko on the other hand, while she still called men degenerates, didn't seem as misandrist as before towards the both of them.

...Well, okay, she didn't like Kokichi that much but at least she held a decent conversation with another boy.

Kokichi hummed in absentminded agreement, but said nothing else.

Something was off, very much so.

The walk was awkwardly silent, even as they decided to head into the basement. They both had thoughts in their heads about the whole situation, and Kokichi was still trying to come completely in terms the fact that everyone was alive and well, everyone was fine and the game hadn't started yet.

( _Well nearly everyone was fine,_ Kokichi thought, _Korekiyo was still a nutcase before the game was a thing and Kaito's almost abnormal protagonist attitude was probably going to get them killed._ )

On the other hand Rantaro was thinking of a way to end the killing game, non of them were safe but one in particular seemed to make sense-

They noticed a girl with brown pig tails wearing a red sailor school shirt with a black skirt and stockings walking somewhat awkwardly in their direction. They immediately recognised who it was.

Maki Harukawa, the **Ultimate Assassin**.

But this was before that revelation, so she was just the **Ultimate Child Caregiver**.

Rantaro, going for a decent first impression, waved at her. "Hey-"

Maki froze in place, staring at them in the eyes with her own, blood red ones that were full of an emotion that he couldn't place his finger on. Her mouth was partially open but had quickly shut.

She seemed somewhat startled. Did something just happen?

He tilted his head. "Umm..."

The assassin narrowed her eyes at Kokichi, then looked back to Rantaro. Her expression seemed to soften, but it turned into her typical cold expression she usually has on most of the time.

"...Maki Harukawa, **Ultimate Child Caregiver**." She looked behind her, towards the Library door almost nervously and began to fiddle with one of her pigtails. "Do you know Kaede Akamatsu?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"I don't recommend going into the library. It's... Being renovated."

And without another word she walked past them and headed up the stairs to the first floor.

 **Beep!**

 **You obtained a Friendship Fragment!**

 **Maki Harukawa fragments, 1/6.**

'How did I get a fragment out of that?'

"That was... Odd."

Kokichi shrugged. "Sounds like Maki to me, still with that tsundere attitude."

"Yeah, not much of a child caregiver attitude."

The shorted boy looked at him confused, then 'ohhh'ed' as he remembered. "Oh right. You died before then didn't you?"

He knew full well about he was talking about, but then he would be raising suspicions far too early. So he did the wise decision and played dumb. "What are you talking about?"

"Neeheehee! Maki is the **Ultimate Terrorist**!"

"...Is that also a lie? I hope it is."

"Neeheehee! Nah, she's actually the **Ultimate Thot**."

"...Oh my god, please never say that again."

Kokichi laughed. "I'll tell you later my dearest Rantaro, now is not the time however."

* * *

After Kokichi decided to torment Rantaro some more with shit puns and dabbing (which Rantaro absolutely detests with a passion), the taller boy had just flat out walked away and entered into the Gaming Room. It looked like the Monokubs hadn't properly fixed up and cleaned up everything yet, as there were still vines and other plant life lingering, along with some broken game machines including a broken knock off DDR machine, an arcade shooter and two arcade racing machines.

And two of them, the DDR and racing machine had... Holes in them?

The metal bar for the DDR machine was bent by nearly 90 degrees and one of the arrows on the board looked like its been kicked in.

Same with the other one. Except it looked like the stuffing in the chair was ripped out.

And there were a pile of metal in the furthest corner of the room, which he quickly realised that it was actually a pile of very broken chairs.

Weird.

And there was only one person in there.

Ryoma Hoshi, the depressed bad-ass in the group and as far as he was aware the smallest Danganronpa character ever.

The dude was 3'5, he was tiny!

And he was also an extremely interesting character that totally deserves better in life because he didn't deserve all that horrible shit happen to him at all.

Ryoma tugged at his pointy hat and spoke, "Hmmph, are you two also looking for a way out?" His deep voice, which contrasted with his cutesy rosy cheeked appearance, a liquorice candy stick in his mouth that acted like a cigarette.

Rantaro shrugged, not acknowledging Kokichi who was peeking his head out behind his back. "Well, we are, but we thought it would be a good idea to get introduced to everyone first."

"Oh?"

"Well, it's just that..." He bit his lip, trying to think his words carefully. "I don't think we will be able to leave anytime soon."

The tennis pro took out his candy stick and sighed. "I see, we may be trapped here, but at least this place beats prison."

"Prison? Sorry if I'm rude, but aren't you an Ultimate?"

Ryoma lowered his head, the shadow of his hat covering his face, which combined made him far more threatening than he should. "Hmmph, that's an old story. Once upon a time I was a man called Ryoma Hoshi, the **Ultimate Tennis Pro**. But that man no longer exists, I'm nothing more than his empty shell."

"Ohhh~ I heard of you." Kokichi smiled, coming out from behind the survivor's back. "Weren't you the guy who killed a mafia with just a tennis racket and an iron ball?"

"He is..?"

The tennis pro looked at Kokichi and frowned. "So you know that much. Well, what do you think of the loser before you who used his talent to kill?"

"Why would you throw away your future like that though? Did they do something?"

Ryoma eyed Rantaro, putting the candy back in his mouth. "I don't like repeating myself... Because I didn't need a future anymore. It's not like me to talk so much. You shouldn't cozy up with a killer like me, I'm dangerous to be around."

And with that he turned his back to them and inspected one of the broken arcade machines. "Hmmph. Also... Do you know Kaede Akamatsu?"

"...Yes?"

Rantaro was afraid to know the answer to the reason why both Maki and Ryoma had asked about her. But, he was starting to understand.

"For a pianist, she's pretty strong." Ryoma started, and Rantaro's suspicions were immediately confirmed. "She was able to bend the bar of that machine over there, along with breaking all of the chairs and punching everything she could."

"Wow."

"She seemed to be looking for something. These coins." Ryoma held out the familiar yet unfamiliar monocoin. "She was destroying everything to get these things. She looked pretty determined."

"And Shuichi?"

"The detective?" Ryoma had a faint smile on his face, but it quickly disappeared. "He looked like a deer caught in the head lights. She nearly hit him in the face with a chair."

Kokichi snickered, clearly amused. "Nee-heehee! That explains why Maki told us to not go into the library. It's being 'renovated'."

 **Beep!**

 **You obtained a Friendship Fragment!**

 **Ryoma Hoshi fragments, 1/6.**

"Shall we meet up with everyone else Kokichi? As the library is, ah, currently out of order?"

The smaller boy nodded. "Let's go then!"

"See you Ryoma!"

"Goodbye..."

And with that they left the room and Ryoma alone.

* * *

"Ryoma seems normal."

"Yeah, he wasn't a weirdo like Miu or Tenko was."

Both of them had gotten back on to the main floor of the academy. They had walked around some more, as for whatever reason the gates to the main entrance was still closed, so they couldn't go outside.

So they decided to have another look around the academy, seeing if there was anyone else.

However they had already met up with everyone in the building, but it seemed like both Kaede and Shuichi were missing.

But the gate was still closed.

So they kept looking.

Honestly, Rantaro was planning on leaving to check up on 'that' in the girls bathroom and just have some time alone. However he was worried about the Nanokuma's, so he changed his mind, instead deciding to do it at a later date.

He also decided to check out the mystery knife strapped to his waist. He knew it was an army/combat knife of sorts, blade handle and a silver blade that made a sharp ' _shiiiing!_ ' noise as soon as he drew it out. Kokichi had noticed, but only enough didn't say anything about it.

However, they decided to go back onto the floor with the dragon statue and-

'Well. This was new.'

Thankfully Tsumugi had decided to move somewhere, so Rantaro didn't have to worry too much. However the dragon statue had a piece of lined paper sticking onto it's nose with somewhat neat writing on it. He walked up to it and took the note off without much thought, and examined it.

 **Start!**

 **The dragon flies five miles north, east, south and west. It goes ten miles north after going twenty miles south.**

 **How many miles did the dragon travel altogether?**

 **How many miles did the dragon travel that was useless?**

 **What are both answers added together, divided by five?**

 **Take that many steps from the back of the ninja statue, and look for the next clue underneath.**

 **The next clue to salvation is there.**

 **:)**

Rantaro blinked. "Wait, it goes fifty miles altogether, however the first twenty miles were useless as it merely circled back. So fifty divided by five, ten..."

"And take that many steps from the ninja statue near the stupid shrine?" Kokichi finished, looking at the dragon in suspicion.

"Was that note there before?"

Kokichi shook his head. "No. This is new." He hummed in thought. "So we need to find the statue and take ten steps behind it?"

"The clue underneath... The soil?"

"Nee-heehee! This was a boring puzzle; even a baby could figure that out." He took the note from Rantaro's hands and looked at it, deep in thought. His eyes flickered back to the dragon, then the note, then the dragon again. "I wonder..."

"Salvation..." This was completely new, something that wasn't in the game. So unless his memory is still failing him as usual. "Does that mean a way out?"

...Or something behind the scenes had changed.

"It has to be a form of motive." Kokichi concluded. Walking up to the statue and tapping it on the nose. "Nee-heehee. Interesting. Come on my beloved Rantaro, lets go back down to the entrance. Something tells me we can leave now."

"Oh?" Kokichi grabbed his hand, albeit hesitantly, and began to drag him down the stairs. He tried to ignore the fact that Rantaro, for whatever reason, was freezing cold, but it was starting to irritate his skin and give him goosebumps. "Why would you think that?"

A simple question. "Because it's always like this in video games!" Kokichi pouted. "Whenever the main characters find a special clue or do a part of the main story, a new path opens! That note may have been the trigger for us to go outside!"

Rantaro couldn't help but laugh at that. "Really?"

"Really!"

"If you insist."

"I really do insist!"

So they jokingly argued about the potential event trigger, with Kokichi being a cheeky brat and responding to everything Rantaro said with a dramatic flair (almost like a child, trying to persuade their parents that they really didn't steal the last cookie from the jar), and the taller boy didn't seem to mind at all. He seemed to enjoy the entertainment, even though Kokichi did realise that the enigma beside him seemed to doze off.

"You would make a great minion for my super secret organisation!"

"J'adorerais un gâteau en ce moment."

"Eh..?"

Rantaro blinked. "Ah, did I say that out loud?"

"Was that... Spanish?"

"French, well, I don't what I said was right."

"What did you say?"

Rantaro hummed, biting his lip. "...I think it was, 'I would love some cake right now?'" He let out a nervous chuckle. "Sometimes I say things in different languages even if I'm not familiar with them, it's a habit I picked up from someone I knew. I'm pretty sure I said that wrong though."

"Oooooh. We need someone in our group who understands French."

"Je pourrais dire cela complètement faux en ce moment." He laughed. "J'utilise un traducteur car mon français est tellement rouillé ."

"Exactly! So France can become one of our main base of operations!"

"Comme c'est mignon." He couldn't help the small chuckle. "It's hard to pronounce different languages, plus I can never remember the words."

"Good enough!" Kokichi snickered, his eyes held a mischievous glint in them. "We already have all of Japan and Hong Kong in our grasps, it wouldn't hurt to go western to extend our influence."

"Don't you have at least one member in your organisation that can speak a different language? Since it has, what did you say, 10,000 members?"

"Yep! And we all can only speak Japanese!"

"And how did you conquer Hong Kong if you only speak Japanese, may I ask?"

"That's a secret." Kokichi winked. "And what type of cake are we talking about?" Rantaro was about to reply back, but Kokichi had suddenly started jumping up and down rapidly, pointing towards the now accessible entrance hall. "Look look, see, I told you we had to see that note to the plot to trigger. The iron grates are gone!"

"So they are."

"C'mon, c'mon! You owe me now for doubting me!"

He couldn't help but laugh, he reached out and gently ruffled Kokichi's hair. The shorter boy stuck out his tongue, whined, "Pweeese stop~" and took his hand off his head. It was funny, watching him run towards the closed door with exaggerated excitement, a bounce in each step. It almost made him forget that Kokichi was time looping, that Kokichi already knew what was going to happen.

Rantaro frowned. 'Knew what was going to happen huh?'

He knew more then Kokichi did, he was an imposter infiltrating someone's identify, possibly erasing them from existence. If things did go like before, he would be incredibly bored (as horrible as it sounds, he wanted new trials and motives, a new route). But he wasn't letting it happen.

He was Rantaro Amami, the first to die. But he wasn't really 'Rantaro' anymore was he? He didn't want to die.

He was an imposter, he wasn't real.

But at he wasn't still...

...He?

She?

He bit his lip, his mind clouded up with a thick fog. Who was he now anyway?

Rantaro Amami?

Or that girl?

"Rantaaarrrrrro!"

Kokichi's panicked yell snapped him from his thoughts, the fog in his mind instantly vanishing. Without even thinking, he immediately rushed towards Kokichi at the entrance hall, who immediately ran behind his back to hide from-

'Oh, hi Korekiyo.'

Korekiyo Shinguji, a tall and thin man with a frame which quite honestly made him look like a snake. He still wore his military styled uniform and hat, along with the silver chains and lockets attached to his uniform and hat, and his face mask with the zipper. His golden eyes stood out from his dark clothes and thick eyelashes.

His eyes stared them down, analysing them, taking in what he could about their appearances.

His mask seemed to move and crumple ever so slightly, and Rantaro couldn't tell the expression he was wearing behind that leather mask. Korekiyo adjusted his hat, but still said nothing. He seemed unnerved and perhaps a tad nervous, did something happen in those ten seconds Kokichi ran off?

It was so awkwardly silent, even with the 'Beautiful Lie V3' music playing casually in the background.

Korekiyo tilted his head, but still said nothing.

"Ah jeez." Rantaro had to break the silence, it was getting too awkward and he could feel Kokichi trying to glare daggers deep into Korekiyo's soul. The snake like man eyes lit up slightly, clearly expecting something. Either he was blissfully unaware of Kokichi's glare (which was slowly becoming his most demonic expression, and oh boy did Rantaro realise that it looks much more horrifying in real life) or he was just flat out ignoring him. "My name is Rantaro Amami, the **Ultimate Suvivor** , it's a pleasure to meet you."

Korekiyo nodded and did a small bow. "My name is Korekiyo Shinguji, I am called the **Ultimate** **Anthropologist**."

The anthropologist was always a personal favourite character of his. He was always an interesting character to him even if he was, in his personal opinion, ruined by writing that made that certain 'revelation' only there for shock value.

This wasn't Corpse Party, Danganronpa was better than this!

('then again,' Rantaro thought, 'it was always foreshadowed and portrayed as disgusting and not light-hearted')

"It's nice to meet you too, Korekiyo." Rantaro politely bowed, which made Kokichi scowl. "I'm not that familiar with anthropology. Can you tell me a bit about it?"

"Please, call me Kiyo." Rantaro could of sworn he saw a smile form behind his leather mask. "I will give you a brief explanation on anthropology, if you desire."

He nodded. He just asked for one didn't he?

"Anthropology... Studies customs, legends, folktales, songs and much more. There may even be customs in-"

As Kiyo began his explanation, Rantaro couldn't help but listen in, completely blocking out the outside noise. It was the same explanation he heard many times, all simple yet went into good detail that didn't overly explain itself, yet it was so nice to listen too. Plus listening to Todd Haberkorn using this type of voice was oddly calming.

...Then again so was NicoB's rendition of Kiyo. That too was extremely calming and pleasant to listen to.

"-Examines the thought behind culture, faith and customs." Kiyo finished. He looked to Rantaro and grasped one of his bandaged hands, clearly expecting something.

Another one who's different?

"That sounds really interesting Kiyo." He couldn't help but smile. "I would love to learn more about it in the future, well, if you want to..."

The taller teens golden eyes lit up in excitement and eagerness. "O- Of course. It's a focus based on humanity after all, I would be happy to tell you more in the future if you so desire. I believe humans are beings that possess infinite beauty, even the ugly parts I find beautiful-"

He suddenly cut himself off, shivering uncomfortably and his eyes closed shut. "No, never mind, forget what I said."

"Okay?" That was a weird cut off. "That was a nice explanation, thank you Kiyo."

"You're welcome." He begun to sweat somewhat, looking a little down trodden. "I'm afraid your friend didn't seem that interested in talking to me, he seemed rather frightened. Kehehehe... I wouldn't blame him with an appearance like mine."

"Yeah, but he's- where the heck did he go?"

Suddenly Kokichi was gone. Perhaps he ran outside, judging how the once closed door was now slightly ajar. He was guessing Kokichi really didn't like Kiyo and just took off after a few seconds of being around him.

He rubbed his arm (the lack of human contact made him feel empty). He didn't even notice him run off.

He couldn't help but let out a sigh. "I'll go look for him. It was nice talking to you Kiyo, hope we talk again soon."

 **Beep!**

 **You obtained a Friendship Fragment!**

 **Korekiyo Shinjuji fragments, 1/6.**

Whatever Kiyo said, he didn't hear, he opened up the door and was immediately greeted by-

Blue skies.

Bright sunlight.

Gentle wind.

Scorching heat.

A lingering smell of fresh mint.

The giant ass cage surrounding the academy.

And-

...

Oh my.

Oh my my my.

"Kokichi?!"

Kokichi Oma was running around near the dormitory, shirtless with a familiar space themed jacket over his shoulders and a black head band perched on the top of his head. He was running around and laughing his head off without a care in the world. And right behind him Kaito Momota, also shirtless, chasing after him with a peeved and somewhat flustered expression on his reddening face.

He ran off not even a minute ago, how the heck was he doing this?! Why was he doing this?

And why was it so hot?!

"Jesus Christ," He began to fan himself with his shirt. Deciding that is wasn't enough he began to take his shirt off. "This is just barely rivalling England's June and July heat waves."

And those were fatal to those who weren't prepared. He remembered one of the many, many reasons he hated high school was because of sports day. Teachers would make them sit in the blazing heat with no shade nor any water bottles and expected them to stay there for over six hours. Especially when he was so damn sensitive to the sun and heat, he might as well have been a vampire.

Thank god for sunscreen and the bottles of ice water he brought.

(also wasn't Rantaro supposed to have temperature resistances because of his travelling? It sure didn't feel like it.)

After taking his shirt off and folding it neatly under his arms, he gave chase after Kokichi.

"What are you doing?!"

Kokichi turned his head towards him, his humming halting and turning into a grin. "Rantaroooo~" And began to run towards him, Kaito closing in fast. "Save me from the scary man!"

He would be worried if Kokichi didn't have a big, stupid grin on his face. And knew that he was going to be perfectly fine.

Just as Kokichi was going to run behind him, Rantaro quickly reached over and snatched the galaxy themed jacket from his shoulders, folded it up and held it up high above his head. The supreme leader whined, jumping up in vain to get the jacket back. He silently thanked their stark height difference. "No fair! You're supposed to be my minion!"

"Yeah, no."

"Rantaro~ I thought we were boyfriends!"

"Please do not spread such lies. We were never together."

"But you're so hot!"

"Why thank you Kokichi, that's very nice of you."

"H-hey!"

Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars and best bro, had run up to him looking rather flushed and sweaty. His purple eyes sparkled like countless stars, which stood out even more due to his reddening skin. He still has his signature goatee and gravity defying purple hair shaped like a crescent moon. Without another word Rantaro tossed the jacket overhead towards Kaito, purposely throwing it out of Kokichi's reach.

The astronaut easily caught it and immediately draped it over his shoulders, glaring at Kokichi all the while.

"I'm sorry about Kokichi." Once again he ruffled the smaller boy's hair, the head band crumpling. "He's like a small child sometimes."

Kaito sighed, but his gaze still on Kokichi. "It's fine, he didn't make off with my jacket, however," He snatched the head band from Kokichi's head. "He did make off with this."

Rantaro nervously chuckled. Now that he had a closer look at it, wasn't that Kirumi's headband?

Kaito pointed backwards towards the dormitory, where the doors were wide open. "This belongs to the maid in there, so I'll return it in a minute. But before that... I hadn't introduced myself yet." Rantaro couldn't even say anything before Kaito continued not even a second later, bashing his fists together. "I'm Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars! Even crying children adore the **Ultimate Astronaut**!"

Kokichi scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Boring, that was the same introduction you used for Kaede and Shuichi!"

"I knew it!" Kaito looked pissed. "You were sneaking in on our conversation!"

"Wait, did Kaede and Shuichi already leave?"

The small teen nodded. "While you were having a conversation with bondage freak, I went outside. That was when I saw this space loony chatting up Kaede and Shuichi-"

"Hey, I wasn't chatting anyone up!"

"-And he saw me after they left!"

"So you took his jacket?"

"Yep! Because of Kaito's incapability of catching me, I also took Kirumi's headband, cause why not?"

What a bully.

"I mean..." Kokichi continued, a frightening grin on his face, directed right at Kaito. "You shouldn't go up to complete strangers you've never met before, hmm? I could of been leading you to a trap to get you killed."

'Kokichi..?'

"I could of led you to Rantaro, who would of finished you with his knife." He put his finger onto his lips, lightly tapping them. "So maybe you should- uumpphhh?!"

He squeaked, his speech interrupted as Rantaro quickly covered his mouth with his hand, making him shudder and freeze up from the sudden deathly cold. He didn't understand, the heat should of warmed him up, why was it doing the complete opposite and making him much colder than before?!

Rantaro couldn't help but laugh nervously, tugging a struggling and panicked Kokichi closer to him. "So-Sorry Kaito! He's just a bit of a trouble maker, that's all. Please don't take him seriously."

Kaito blinked, clearly confused. But regardless he smiled with no ill intent or malice behind his expression. "Nah, it's fine, no harm done and all." He walked up to the duo and pushed his hand onto Kokichi's head, rubbing harshly much to the smaller boys chargin. "He a little brother?"

"No," More like a little shit. "We just decided to team up to explore the academy, look for a way out and all."

"A way out huh?" Kaito grinned. "Don't worry we'll find a way out soon, otherwise I'm not Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars!"

"So you have an idea on how to get out?"

"No... But I'll find one soon, trust me!"

"So you don't?"

"Sh- Shut up! We'll find a way out soon, got it?!"

He chuckled. "Anyway," he motioned towards the cage above, letting go of Kokichi who staggered a foot away and coughed, taking in the warm air. "Do you know why its so hot here?"

The astronaut shrugged. "Not sure, but apparently it had something to do with an intruder."

"An intruder?" Now that he thought about it, didn't one of he kubs mention something about an intruder?

He suddenly felt something tapping his shoulder, he turned and saw no other than Kirumi Toujo, who was holding a paper note which was ripped from a notebook. Despite the heat, she was still wearing her maid outfit, with the exception of the missing headband.

She held out the note, gently shaking it, urging him to read it.

 _'The Monokubs explained to us earlier that an intruder had attacked the academy and destroyed some of the facilities not too long ago. This includes the temperature stabilisers for the outside, among other things.'_

"Oh, hey Kirumi." Kaito greeted and handed her her headband, which she took with a small polite bow and placed it back on her head. "How's the clean up coming along?"

She reached into her notebook and took out a pen, writing into the note book extremely quickly.

 _'It's all going according to plan. You're door is fixed now, but the stairs are out of my control unfortunately.'_ She bowed towards Rantaro and Kokichi in polite greeting. _'My apologies... I am Kirumi Toujo, the **Ultimate Maid**. Please let me know if you require my service.'_

'This was interesting.' He thought, staring at the suddenly now mute maid in front of him. 'Very, very interesting.'

"It's nice to meet you, I'm-"

She held out her hand, signalling him to stop before she began to write.

 _'Rantaro Amami, **Ultimate Suvivor** , correct?'_ At his confused gaze, she clarified, _'I heard your conversation with Kaito, my apologies for listening in to your private conversation.'_ She glared at Kokichi. ' _And I was rather... Preoccupied with this... Purple gremlin here.'_

Rantaro nearly did a double take and almost burst out laughing from how serious she said that. It seemed like Kirumi was another changed one, as he was pretty sure that she would never say that to anyone unprovoked nor was she mute.

But it was rather worrying, her too?

"Kirumi..." He muttered. He remembered most of this stuff, but it wouldn't hurt for a quick recap wouldn't it? Plus, it helps to fit in. "Aren't you supposed to be a really popular private maid that can do any request given to her? Well, most requests anyway?"

 _'That is indeed correct. I will full fill any request that a client will give to me, however if its related to, let's say, murder or any type of sexual matters or relationships I have to decline.'_

"That's fine. I've never actually met a maid before, so this is something new for me. Thank you for fulfilling my interests."

 _'You're welcome, it's in my duty to serve after all.'_

He couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Sorry, to but in," Kaito interrupted, scratching the back of his head. "Kirumi, shouldn't we help the others and Angie now?"

 _'Of course.'_ She turned towards Rantaro and Kokichi, an apologetic look on her face. _'My apologies for asking, but can you assist us? The intruder had also damaged one of the buildings, the Shrine of Judgement, and none of us can enter. This wouldn't be a problem in a normal situation, however-'_

"Angie is stuck in there." Kaito finished, essentially summarising the rest of the text.

"O,Oh." What on Earth happened earlier? "Sure, I can help. So can Kokichi as an apology for stealing your stuff."

"Oh man, my beloved Rantaro is much more sterner than usual." Kokichi pouted. "Did I make you mad?"

"Nah, I just think it's rude that you weren't going to help them after being so rude to them earlier, no?"

"Jeez, you're such a buzzkill Rantaro!" The smaller teen whined. "Fiiiiine, I'll help."

"That's good." He patted his back. "Alright tell me what to do and I'll do it.

 **Beep!**

 **You obtained a Friendship Fragment!**

 **Kaito Momota fragments, 1/6.**

 **Beep!**

 **You obtained a Friendship Fragment!**

 **Kirumi Toujo fragments, 1/6.**

* * *

"Okay, did this intruder have bombs on them or something?" Rantaro asked with complete honesty, carrying and dumping another large rock onto a nearby pile of debris. No one answered, his only response being a few shrugs.

He sighed, and continued to hum 'Beautiful Lie', which was still playing on the speakers.

He, Kokichi, Kaito, Kirumi, Shuichi, Kaede and Gonta were all working together to remove pieces of shattered rock and steel beams from the entrance of the shrine. Nearly everyone in the group had taken articles of their clothing off or had gotten completely shirtless at this rate, with the exception on Kirumi and oddly enough Shuichi, who had constantly persisted to keep his clothes on, despite the fact he was red in the face and looked ready to keel over.

He thought it was supposed to be a simple task really, seeing how small the shrine was in size in terms of the stone that was used. But he was very, very wrong.

The shrine was, for whatever reason, much bigger in real life than the game as it now was reaching a few inches below the top of the dome they were all stuck in, and whatever happened earlier took most of the shrine out and then some, with the pavement to the shrine now jagged and unstable. And the ninja statue was missing, so he couldn't check it out right now. Plus the heat was starting to burn a bit, if he waited outside for too long his skin would definitely get burnt.

Angie was stuck, still alive thankfully, but couldn't climb out due to the unstable debris.

Gonta took out a larger piece of rock, dumping it right next to Rantaro's and nearly on top of his foot. "Ah! S-Sorry!"

He didn't even notice, he was still too lost in his thoughts about the sudden size increase of the shrine. "Oh- No it's fine Gonta, you didn't do anything bad."

The large man, made of muscle and love blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, Gonta hasn't been feeling that well since Gonta woke up outside the shrine earlier. Gonta is a little out of it right now."

He could hear Kokichi snickering in the background.

Gonta Gokuhara seemed to be another one who's changed, however it seems like the only change is really his speech, how he used to have broken English and spoke in third person, now he just spoke in third person. Just like in the original Japanese version he believed.

That seemed to be it though, nothing too major. He wasn't sure about Angie yet, but he'll find out soon.

...Wait, why are they fixing up this mess? Shouldn't this be the Monokubs job? Where were the little bastards?

A cheerful voice rang out from beyond the rubble, perky and joyful, "Nyahahaha! Good work everyone, Atua thanks you all!"

And Angie seemed normal enough, so far.

"How are you doing Angie?"

"I'm fine! Atua is guiding me on my end, but he's telling me right now its not a good idea to move anymore rocks." Angie cheered. "Otherwise I'll be squished by an avalanche!"

At least she was still cheery. And her accent sounded more... Thicker? He guessed? He never really paid attention to her accent to be honest, he just acknowledged its existence. Maybe it was the exact same and he was just going mental.

He wasn't even sure what accent she had, it sounded like a French dialect mixed with something else to be honest.

And just as they were about to continue.

 **"Rise and shine, ursine-"**

'Ah, speak of the devils.'

The Monokubs, as usual popped out of nowhere, each striking a pose each that Rantaro wouldn't be surprised all came from Jojo and with Monokid hitting a few strings on his guitar, which he then proceeded to throw at the rubble, shattering it. No one seemed to really acknowledged their existence, in fact Kaito had just rolled his eyes and continued with removing the debris.

Monotaro waved at them all, a smile on his grinning face. "Beary nice to meet you again! I see you guys are having trouble right now."

"Wells, you see bastards." Monosuke began. "We weren't going to help ya, however since father is coming soon, we hadn't gotten much of a choice left, so!"

"We will now help you bastards." Monophanie waddled over to the rubble and sighed. "Why did that intruder give daddy such stress? He's an honest bear with an honest job."

"I know right? Daddy is trying so hard to help support us, and this intruder is making it all worse!"

"Raaaaaaah! What an ass!"

"Wait, we need the you-know-what for this."

"Yeah, so?"

"According to script we aren't supposed to bring them out till later!"

"Pffft. Everything's already chaotic as is, might as well bring out one before the fixin' starts." Monosuke shrugged. "Hey Monokid! Bring out ya Exisal!"

"Fuck yeah!"

Monokid's red eye glowed faintly for a few seconds before stopping, and at first, nothing seemed to have happened. Until a quiet, yet high pitched whistle rang throughout the academy, seemingly coming from nowhere that was getting louder and louder until-

Kaede looked up and gasped, a large black blur was starting to descend from the dome right above of them. "Everyone, look out!"

On instinct everyone jumped away from the destroyed entrance, just in time dodging the large object that came crashing down where they all once stood. It's impact causing debris to fly and a large cloud of dust to form, obscuring the machine and the area around it.

It was an Exisal, its shape resembled a monkey and was much bigger than any of them. However-

Among most of the groups yells and shouts of panic, Monokid had cried out in pure anguish when the Exisal came down, and Rantaro and Kokichi understood why as soon as the dust had properly cleared.

The Exisal was there without a doubt, the problem was that, well...

Someone had wrecked it.

The machine looked like it went through hell and back. It had scratches, dents and bullet holes all over it, half its gun arm looked like its been sliced clean off by something incredibly sharp and strong, the same with its tail as well which also looked like its been sliced clean off. It's right leg was barely in one piece and looked like it wasn't able to support the machines weight for much longer and most of the wires were detached from the main body, caused either by it simply being pulled off or something slicing through it clean like everything else.

The only thing that seemed to be in decent condition was the blue paint job and it's 'eyes', and that was it.

Everyone looked at the machine in confusion, especially Rantaro and Kokichi. What on Earth happened?

'First people have been acting strange...' Rantaro thought, 'That puzzle appeared, someone had messed up parts of the academy, now one of the Exisals is somehow busted?!'

This was strange. Far too strange.

The Monokubs looked shocked and appalled by what they were seeing, but Monokid seemed to have been taking it the worse, as he had waddled up to the Exisal and collapsed to the ground, crying in anguish.

"Who- Who the fuck did this to my baby?!" He sobbed, "I-I-I'll kill the bastard who did this!"

"Now, now, Mono- Monokid." Monophanie had tried to coax him calmly, but her voice was trembling. In fact she didn't continue at all and looked towards her siblings in fear. "Umm... Is our Exisals fine?"

Monosuke shivered, laughing nervously. "Y, Yes! Of course! They were fine not even an hour ago!" He walked up next to Monokid and began to whsiper. "Hey bro, is ya Exisal still workin'?"

Monokid hiccuped. "It still responded ta me... Maybe?"

"Alright, can you get the bastard out of the shrine?"

"Why can't you summon yours?!"

"Hush!" Monophanie came up from behind Monosuke, urging Monokid to be quiet. "We don't know if ours are fine yet! If these bastards find out our weapons are busted, they'll rebel!"

Kokichi rolled his eyes, apparently they were still dumb, because they weren't doing a good job at being quiet.

To their surprise, Monodam spoke up as quietly as he could, "IT-WOULD-BE-WISE-IF-THE-EXISAL-JUST-TAKES-THE-STUDENT-OUT. WE-WILL-HAVE-TO-ASK-FATHER-ABOUT-ANOTHER-WAY-OF-FIXING-THE-ACADEMY-UNTIL-WE-FIX-THE-EXISALS."

"Agreed." Monotaro nodded. He waddled up to Rantaro, making Monophanie squeal in distraught.

"Monotaro, no! He's not-"

"Father? Is it okay for us to just take the student out?"

He felt everyone eyes fall on him in suspicion and curiosity, making him sweat nervously. 'Please don't make me out to be the Mastermind people.' "Sure, just... Take Angie out and leave the shrine as is."

"Okay then!" Monotaro cheered. "C'mon Monokid, use the Exisal and take her out!"

"Carefully!"

"Yeah, that too."

"Hey, Monophanie!" Monosuke hissed. "I thought you fixed him!"

"I know I did, why is he still acting like this bastard is daddy?!"

Monokid, still upset and growing blue mushrooms on his head, sighed in defeat. And, uncharacteristically, without another word he climbed into the cockpit of the Exisal. It took a few seconds, but the Exisal had begun to move ever so slowly. First it moved its damaged leg, nearly toppling over on the floor as the leg snapped in half. A broken sob came from the cockpit as the Exisal carefully used its good arm to support itself and began to crawl over to the debris.

"Angie!" Kaede called out. "Can you move back a bit? We're about to get you out!"

"Okay!"

It was quiet honestly painful, watching the once powerful Exisal carefully crawl onto the debris, quickly grabbing onto one of the metal stronger beams and lifting itself up, after waiting a few seconds and figuring out its safe enough it reached inside with a broken arm, careful not to cause an avalanche.

"Yay! Thank you Mr Robot!"

Monokid only grumbled.

After a few seconds, the Exisal lifted its arm, Angie perched cheerfully on its arm, kicking her legs-

Wait.

Rantaro narrowed his eyes, taking a closer look at the girl on its arm.

It looked like Angie, judging by the skin tone, the hair, the piercings, necklace and the bikini she was wearing.

But everything else was definitely not Angie.

The Exisal put her down on the broken concrete, allowing him to see her completely.

Everything he listed above was the same, but there were a few differences. First, while she was wearing her yellow smock, it's hood and shoulder areas had clean white fluff on them with a few specks of black paint on them, the smock itself had dried red paint with floral designs that looked like someone brushed on with a paintbrush. She also had a large bamboo paintbrush strapped to her back, the hairs being completely cleaned and looked fairly new and a small hammer and five smaller paintbrushes strapped to her bikini bottoms.

She... Looked like a mix between her concept designs and her final design, mixed in with a few original designs.

"Nyahaha! Thank ya all for helping me!" Angie cheered, tilting her body sideways multiple times like a little bobblehead. "Atua appreciates ya assistance to me, as such he will reward you all at a later date!"

'That's great...'

"No problem." Kaito grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "Just helping a person in need."

"It's my duty as a maid to help and assist others after all."

"It would of been incredibly rude to leave you trapped in there."

"Gonta is happy to help, as Gonta is working to become a gentlemen!"

Angie still had that unchanging smile on her face. "So kind!" But that smile disappeared as soon as she saw Rantaro, replaced by a small frown.

Monokid rolled out of the cockpit, sniffling ever so slightly and waddled weakly towards the rest of his siblings. The rest of the cubs, minus Monotaro who was now resting his head against Rantaro's leg, disappeared, their job now done.

"Is, something the matter Angie?" Rantaro asked cautiously.

The artist walked up to him, tilting her head slightly, her gaze strong like steel. Without warning, she grabbed his hand, making him jump from the sudden warm and soft contact. Angie blinked and after a few seconds of a deadpan stare smiled joyfully, "Nyahaha? I didn't realised you were also an Oracle like me." She let go of his hand. "Cold... Which God do ya worship?"

"Excuse me?"

"I can feel a divine aura inside ya," Angie explained. "It feels like mine, but more cold and weaker. Where are you from?"

"Tokyo?"

"Hmmm? Are ya sure? Ya don't feel like it."

'What does she mean by that?!'

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean?"

Angie hummed, pondering to herself. She suddenly clapped her hands in glee. "Interesting, how very interesting!"

 **Ding Dong!**

 **Bing Bong!**

The sound of the dreaded grandfather bells, simplistic yet terrifying. Suddenly Rantaro's heart sank as the monitors speakers halted the background music and blared out what was essentially the beginning of mass murder, the beginning of a sick game. It had grabbed everyone's attention, as they all turned towards the monitor, the once black screen turned to static.

Static, for a few seconds longer. Then-

A familiar screen appeared along with all but one of the Monokubs, each holding their respective drinks, with the exception of the still upset and now tipsy Monokid; who was holding a massive jar of honey instead. Monodam looked as deadpan as usual, Monosuke looked traumatised and Monophanie looked really freaked out. They all sat on a familiar red spotty settee, all of the students dolls were lying or hanging around the room.

But his doll wasn't in its usual position. Instead, it was lying against the front of the settee and looking up, fabric tears coming down its face with a ball and chain attached to its left leg.

"H-Hiiiii!" Monophanie stuttered. "Than- Thanks for bearing with us!"

Monokid sobbed, gulping down honey and throwing another guitar, which hit poor Monodam directly on his head, knocking him to the ground and breaking his drink. Monodam didn't react and he didn't seem to care either.

"Please! Go to the gym imm- Immediately!" The bear continued to stutter. "The op-opening c-c-ceremony will begin as soon, soon as everyone has ga-ga-gathered in the g-gym." Without warning she suddenly threw her drink against the camera, the glass and its contents spilling everywhere. "This is a nightmare! Daddy is going to kill us, the preparations are incomplete and everything is chaotic!"

The Monokubs looked absolutely miserable.

"S- So long, bear well..."

The screen turned back to black, the speakers dead silent until another song, 'Rise of the Ultimates' started to play.

'At least the music knows when to change.'

"H-Hey," Shuichi spoke up, still red in the face. "Should we go to the gym?"

"We might as well." Kaede crossed her arms, staring at the monitor. "I'm guessing that probably everyone else is going to the gym."

"That's true but... I'm a little worried about this."

Out of nowhere Kaito slapped him on the back, knocking Shuichi forwards a few steps. "Hey man, it's gonna be fine. Let's just go to the gym and see what these bears want." The astronaut had a big smile on his face, which Shuichi looked away from, adjusting his hat so he wouldn't make direct eye contact with the taller teen. "I mean, whats the worst that could hap-"

"Don't!" Kaede snapped, interrupting whatever Kaito was going to say. "You'll jinx us!"

"Oh shit, sorry!"

"Too late for that..." Rantaro couldn't help but mutter. He crouched down and gently picked up Monotaro in his arms, his fuzzy artificial fur tickling his skin. The red and white bear didn't resist, he only sunk into his body and sighing happily. "Alright, we should probably get going then."

"Is the bear...?"

"I'm not the one who trapped you guys here." Rantaro said before anyone could even suggest it. "He seems to think I'm his dad for whatever reason. Might as well act the part if there's any information that we'll need later. Besides, why would I be with you guys if I was indeed the one who trapped you here?" He began to walk towards the academy building, clearly eager to get this over with.

Well, they couldn't argue with that logic.

Kirumi stood to the side, urging everyone else to go first. With slight hesitation, they all began to follow Rantaro.

With the exception of two people.

Angie Yonaga looked at the group, specifically Rantaro with interest. She never felt such a strange individual in her life, one filled with coldness of a corpse, as solid as a statue and one filled with raw spiritual energy that, while weak, nearly matched Atua's godly energy. It made her feel fuzzy, weak at the knees to be near such a person with such spiritual energy around them.

It made her curious.

Which God was he chosen by to be his Oracle?

He had to know right? There was no way he was oblivious to the sheer potential and influence he had, right?

If he didn't...

She clapped her eyes, her will strengthening. That was fine if he didn't know. She would help him if that was the case!

She would be the caretaker of the worlds most delicate flower, she would be blessed to help him tap into his inner spirit, to make him bloom.

Yes, this was what Atua was telling her, he wanted to get to know this man himself. If the God had a small religion, she would happily help spread it.

Because Atua said so!

Which was weird, why would Atua want a rival God to spread their influence?

Oh! He wants to be friends! That makes sense!

And with that conclusion, she happily skipped off after the group, clearly eager to get to know the other Oracle more.

Kokichi Ouma, on the other hand, looked at the leaving group, then back to the broken Exisal. He was silent, taking everything in as his brain worked like a machine, constantly writing out theories in his mind, connecting dots to possibilities, realistic and surreal.

He was coming to a conclusion with all of the evidence, all of the evidence that was making him wish he was as dumb as Gonta for figuring out so early.

He wasn't dumb however, it was clear that, despite the fact that Rantaro time looped too, his personality was different. It didn't feel right at all.

Something fishy was going on here, and he didn't like it.

Not. One. Bit.

 **Beep!**

 **You obtained a Friendship Fragment!**

 **Angie Yonaga fragments, 1/6.**

* * *

It wasn't long until everyone had made it to the gym, in fact, Rantaro's group was the last to arrive. Everyone else was standing around, clearly waiting for the rest of the group to arrive.

The gym looked the same, he didn't see any physical difference at all.

Rantaro, careful to not wake Monotaro up, cracked his arms and hands after noticing they were starting to become stiff. He did the same to his legs. The unintentionally loud cracks rang out through the mostly silent gym, the only noises being quiet whispering and the soft snores of the bear resting comfortably in his arms.

"Well, that seems to be all of us." Kaede noted after carefully counting. Everyone else was quiet, not even Kaito spoke up. "The bears asked us to come to the gym for the entrance ceremony, right? But they don't seem to be here."

"Excuse me for asking but..." Kiyo fidgeted, looking away nervously and focusing on his bandaged hands. "Why is it that your group is shirtless?"

Rantaro blinked, his cheeks turning slightly pink. He thought he forgot something, he was too focused on the sweet coolness of the indoors to realise that he and his group was still shirtless.

Tenko cringed. "It's a bit of an eye sore for the degenerate males. But at least the girls look good."

Miu burst out laughing, her spit getting everywhere, "Ha! I bet these guys were in the middle of an amateur orgy when the bell rang! Their brains must of fallen flat from how boring it was that they forgot their shirts!"

"Oh please Miu." Kokichi scoffed. "At least I know how sex works. You probably watched some shitty hentai and thought that it made you an expert. Despite the fact that the animation and anatomy is hideous, you act like you're a sex God because of it!."

"And she is no God!" Angie piped in cheerfully. "She's not even an Oracle! She looks like an Atua-damned idiot!"

"You two are so damn vicious! And I don't even know who this chick is!"

"There are some bad hentai out there." Tsumugi thought out loud. "A lot of them are low budgeted and were animated by amateurs and newbies. But there are some good ones like-"

He wasn't hearing this. "In stressful situations like this, there's no use thinking about things, so eventually, Rantaro stopped thinking."

Tsumugi's eyes sparkled. "Ah! You watch JoJo?!"

He shook his head. "No, I was distracting you, I wasn't even aware that was a JoJo reference."

"Nyeeeh. What's gonna happen to us? I'll bet it'll be a huge pain."

"Ah! Don't worry Himiko! I'll protect the both of us!"

"...I take it back, she's a bigger pain than whatever's gonna happen next."

"You're pretty lazy, huh?"

"Pardon me, but..." Kiibo spoke up cautiously. "We need to be on our guard. We do not know if and when danger will strike."

Kokichi sniffed, putting on the crocodile tears. He closed up on Rantaro and hugged his sides. "Rantaro~ I'm scared."

"You'll live." He ruffled his hair, more softer than before.

"Nee-heehee!"

He wasn't going to admit it, but as the seconds past and the conversations grew more louder, he was starting to panic. He was going to be in a Killing Game, he was probably going to die and nothing was going to change because he was useless, like he always was. People around him were going to die and he wouldn't be able to save them.

Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless!

"Hey..."

A firm voice took him out of his pathetic, self hating mantra, and too his surprise, the owner of the voice had belonged to Maki, who had walked up to him and put her hand firmly on his shoulder. "You're panicking. Calm down and take deep breathes, count to 3 multiple times if you need to."

He nodded, doing exactly that. She was still there, even after a minute has passed, her hand still on his shoulder. "Thanks Maki, it's fine, I'm used to this stuff."

"That's not a good thing to admit."

"I know, I know. Pathetic right?"

"Yes, but no. You've been fighting for awhile haven't you?"

"...Yes."

"Keep it up."

"...Thank you."

Kokichi pouted, but he couldn't help but be curious. He wondered-

At that moment, the lights in the gymnasium suddenly shut off... Everyone went silent, the darkness encasing them all until a dimmer light came on.

Dead silent.

You could hear a pin drop.

"Upupupu! Everyone! Please bring your attention to the front of the gymnasium."

There it was, the dreaded voice, belonging to a terrifying being.

The spotlights on the gym podium came to life one by one, and when they all focused onto the podium-

He jumped out of the wooden floor, a pair of wings, one black, one white, strapped to his back.

A bright light burned behind him, showing a living God that lived among them, its sole purpose, to bring despair to them all.

He landed gently onto the podium, perched on his butt, its wings fallen off and landed on the floor like wet cardboard.

But...

There he was.

"I am the God of this new world."

Half black, half white. All despair.

"...And the headmaster of the Ultimate Academy!"

A terrifying grin.

"The one, the only,"

And that signature red eye.

"Monokuma!"

Monokuma casually layed down onto his side, a glass of martini in his paws.

"Nice to meetcha!"

He took in a deep breath, doing his best to calm himself. The situation he was in was finally hitting him, causing his heart to beat rapidly in his chest to the point it was starting to hurt.

'Maybe I'll be lucky,' He tried to reason with himself. He could feel someone rub his back, calming him down somewhat. 'Maybe it'll be Salmon Team instead of the main game.' And knowing his luck, it was most likely not gonna be the case.

The whole class was silent, trying to process what they were seeing. Everything that has happened up to that point was relatively normal, but this... This was just flat out surreal for them, even with some people seeing a giant robot, this was still absolutely strange.

No one said anything, still not being able to understand what they were seeing.

"Oh? Has my cute appearance struck you all into silence?" Monokuma asked, cutely tilting his head to the side. "I don't blame you guys, I was voted the most adorable mascot in the world at one point after all. I'm cute, and now thanks to some upgrades, I'm fluffy as well!" The bear threw his martini to the side, shattering as it hit the wooden floors. "Oh? Monotaro's here, but wheres the rest of my adorable cubs?"

"Mhhhh?" Monotaro yawned, stretching his limbs as he continued to snuggle into Rantaro, content. "Oh, hey father," Still referring to Rantaro, "You didn't tell me that I had a new brother."

"Wait, what?" Monokuma blinked. He froze for a few seconds, taking in everyone's appearance. "Hold on a second, what is this?! Where are the rest of my adorable Monokubs?!"

 **"Rise... And shine... Ursine..."**

The Monokubs popped out beside Monokuma, looking absolute depressed. Monosuke and Monophanie were poking at the mushrooms growing on Monokid, who was now completely silent, honey smeared across his face. Monodam had a pen in his hand, drawing on Monokids face.

"Hey! What on Earth happened to this place?! And why aren't you following the script?!"

"Oh... Hey daddy." Monophanie waved, peeling a blue mushroom off. "Everything's going so horribly wrong..."

"We've been havin' some," Monosuke paused, trying to find the right word. "Technical difficulties."

"What?"

"Oh, oh! I can explain!" Monotaro wiggled, getting their attention. "Basically, an intruder infiltrated and messed up most of the academy. We got rid of them eventually, but..."

"But..?"

"Umm... I forgot!"

Out of nowhere, Monophanie broke down onto the floor crying. "They broke so much of the academy, we won't be able to fix it in time! And the Exisals... The Exisals are either missing or completely destroyed!" She sobbed, poking at the mushroom in her paws. "It's, it's just unbearable!"

Monokuma said nothing, seemingly deep in thought.

"Wh-What is this? What's going on?"

Kaede was the first one to speak up, absolutely terrified.

"Another teddy bear appeared..."

"Whoa!" Monokuma snapped, drawing out his claws. "First of all, I'm no teddy bear. I'm Monokuma! Show some respect! I'm the headmaster of the **Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles!** And secondly..."

His red eye glowed, emitting a red light. "Upupupu! This is very, very interesting!"

"Um... Daddy? Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm feeling the despair! Unexplained happenings, intruders, an overly long prologue... And we're still gonna continue!"

"We are?! But the Exisals-"

"Completely irrelevant! I didn't need the Exisals before, and I still won't need them now!" Monokuma giggled, a long slimy tongue escaping his maw. "In fact, I have another way of enforcing the law around here AND to fix up the academy!"

'He... Did?'

"We do?"

"Of course silly Monosuke. I always keep spare robots of mass destruction around, what type of father would I be if I didn't!" He burst out laughing. "Upupupu! This Killing Game will go on! It will never end as long as I live and for as long people desire it!"

"K-Killing Game?!"

The dreaded words that he had been fearing caused a reaction of worry and panic among their classmates. Murmurs, harsh whispers and yelling broke out between them, drowning out all other noise.

"Alright, alright settle down!" Monokuma brought out a gavel and smacked it against the podium, silencing everyone and bringing the attention back to him. "Unfortunately, I need to be somewhere in a bit, so I'll have to keep this brief! I want you students with your Ultimate level talents to participate in a Killing Game!"

"K-Killing Game? Us?"

"Please stop joking around!" Kiibo looked startled. "Why would we agree to-"

"I'm just gonna cut you off there with a 'you don't have a choice!' I'm gonna make you kill and hurt each other! Preferably in the opposite order."

"A gentleman would never do that to anyone!"

"And besides, you don't have the Exisals anymore! What makes you think I'm not gonna kick your asses into next week?!"

"Y-Yeah!"

"Atua will protect us and help defeat you!"

Monokuma practically screamed at this. "Weren't you guys listening?! I don't need the Exisals, because I have another way to enforce the law around here!"

Suddenly the room grew awfully cold as the lights went completely out, covering everything in pitch blackness. The red light in Monokuma's eye grew bright, lighting up the room. "Oh come to me, oh ancient king, set thyself aflame for these tainted sinners, and drown the world in your holy light-"

As Monokuma began to chant, a sharp, almost unbearable pain suddenly erupted in Rantaro's stomach, causing him to curl over and collapse to the ground in agony, nearly crushing Kokichi in the process. Monotaro crawled out of his grip, dazed, but began to panic not too long after. Kokichi crouched to the ground, holding him, he didn't know what to do.

"R-Rantaro?!"

"Father?! Are you feeling alright?"

"What's going on?!"

As they were panicking, Monokuma continued.

"And may God bless us in the afterlife, for we have faithfully followed Him for so long and fulfilled his every wish and sermon,"

He raised his paw in the air. "Oh, ancient king, come back to me. Rise, Mono Lords!"

The pain grew so unbearble, so painful that he couldn't stand it anymore.

He blacked out.

* * *

The tension in the air was thick and heavy, as everyone waited with baited breath as the lights flickered to back to life, expecting the worse. Kokichi, Gonta and Maki stayed by Rantaro's side, ready to defend him whenever something happened.

But nothing happened. Even after a minute had passed.

"Ara?" Monokuma looked at his paw confused, shaking it. He was completely ignoring the unconscious student on the ground. "Is my summoning spell faulty? Did I say the incantation wrong?"

He took out a doll of some generic student and tossed it to the ground. "I invoke the mighty summon spell! Help! To me, godly spear Gungnir!"

The results were instantaneous, the doll was immediately impaled by a dozen of sharp metal spears that rose from the wooden floor below. With a click of its fingers the spears retracted, leaving behind a tattered mess of cloth and stuffing. "Oh, I guess I'm too weak right now to summon gods and higher spirits, oh well."

He glared at the paling students in front of him, his grin growing impossibly bigger. "I suppose that'll keep you guys quiet for now. Behave, do whatever you want for today, I'll properly fill you in on this fun game we're participating in, starting tomorrow! Upupupu~ Remember that I hold the power of life and death over every single one of you, including your rights to kill and not to kill. Come on my adorable little cubs, we need to check 'that' out. Farewell!"

And with that, he disappeared into the ground below.

" **S-So long, bear well!"**

And the Monokubs, except Monotaro, followed shortly afterwards.

"Hey, whats going on with Rantaro?!"

Kokichi put the back of his hand on his forehead, immediately flinching away. "He's freezing, but he's still breathing." What was happening to him?!

"Unconscious..." Maki muttered. She felt around his body, starting from the head down, stopping around the stomach area when something hard and solid came in contact with her fingers. Her eyes narrowed. "Alright, bring him to the dormitory. Make sure he has some water and comfort. Kaito?"

"Y-Yes?"

"Can you help me find something to warm and cover his stomach? Like a belly warmer?"

"Sure."

"Umm..." Maki looked down to see a nervous Monotaro, twiddling his whatever counts as thumbs. "I think there should be some belly warmers and painkillers in the warehouse. Monokid might of eaten them though."

In all honesty, none of them wanted to trust him, however the cub seemed honest enough.

"That's fine, can someone go with him?"

Kirumi held up her hand, nodding.

"Gonta, can you take him to the dormitory?"

"Gonta can do that!"

"And Kokichi?"

"..."

"Keep an eye on him until he wakes up."

"Alright..."

Kokichi stared at the assassin in suspicion. What was up with her? Another changed one?

"Hey, Maki?" Tenko spoke up nervously. "What should we do?"

"What else can we do other than look for a way out?" Maki said simply. She glared at the stage, her eyes darkening. "I don't think that bear is gonna make it easy for us, however."

"Yeah..." Kaede nodded in agreement. "But we won't know unless we try, right? I mean, everything about this situation is so messed up, asking 16 students to kill each other for some sick game... It's horrible. But we don't have to play by their rules. We can beat them!"

And despite Kaede's small, uplifting speech.

Despite the mysterious time looper.

Despite the fact that an outsider had knowledge to get them out.

And despite all of their eagerness to get out.

It would most likely be all for naught.

Because the Mastermind is a tricky thing.

And the Mastermind will make sure that no one disturbs their hellish game.

At any cost.

* * *

"How despairing~" Monokuma sighed, leaning against his chair, Monopad in hand. "The intruder broke so much, but we still have to continue on with the show despite that."

Strange. How strange. Team Danganronpa would of stopped recording and started again after everything is fixed. But the message he received said otherwise.

 **Continue the game.**

He hummed in thought. He was a highly advanced AI, built to monitor and manage the Killing Games, to learn from the murders and improve on motives. He wasn't dumb, he knew this message wasn't from Team Danganronpa.

In fact... He's completely lost their signal.

So this person, the one who sent a message, was most likely the intruder who messed everything up in the first place. Who completely deactivated the Nanokuma's, taken down outside communications and destroyed the Exisals.

"Upupupu~ Very well, I'll play your game. But just so you know-"

He stood up, examining the Monopad, looking through the camera's.

"I have no intent on giving up that easily."

* * *

 **Boom, intro is done, on to the more entertaining stuff.**

 **Lordy dordy this was stupidly long to write, which was my fault because I could just skipped the prologue and went straight onto the killing game, but, there were important details that needed to be addressed. You can tell how rushed the ending is as well, I was really tired while writing this, haha. But everything seems decent enough.**

 **(But as soon as I upload this suddenly theres gonna be a kajillion spelling mistakes and continuity errorr's, I just know it)**

 **SO! I'm planning on having Fake!Rantaro go through FTE's but I'm not entirely sure who to do first.**

 **Which is why I'm making a poll on my profile for later, for you guys to decide who he'll hang out with. Each person will have 2 choices and you basically get to decide the first few people he'll hang out with.**

 **Now, to respond to comments.**

 **Dyn: Thank you for taking interest in my story, I'll hope you'll stick around for future instalments.**

 **Revamped Persona: I've liked OC/Self Insert character stories, even if a majority of them are hot trash. But I also like timelooping stories, I decided to mix these two together. But I've decided to make some twists that may disappoint you in terms of the 'staying in character' dynamic. But I hope you enjoyed regardless?**

 **Gatling: I'm glad to see that you're enjoying it, and the reasons as to why Rantaro is like this may shock you. Thanks for thinking the intros are decent, it's really hard for me to keep people diverse like these people in character (and I'm having major problems writing Angie), so hearing that I'm doing a good job makes me smile on the inside. In all honesty? I was planning on pairing Rantaro and Kokichi together, but for one it'll go against future development, I'm not good at romance, and it'll make me depressed with the future shit these two are gonna get dragged into. But if people request it a lot, I might change my mind.**

 **Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this prologue. And hopefully you'll enjoy whats to come.**


	5. Theory

**53 Lies and Counting.**

 _Chapter 5: Theory._

 _Begin Recording 321drv111-0_ _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 **Everyone still searches for a way out and mysteries and theories arise. But in the meantime, its nice to relax and get to know each other.**

 _ **.**_

 _ **Chapter 1: Whispers from the Abyss.**_

 _ **16 Survivors Remain.**_

 _ **.**_

 **Welcome to, none other than the...**

 **Monokuma Theatre!**

 **Welcome new students of the Ultimate Academy, and congratulations on entering this prestigious academy for gifted youngsters such as yourselves.**

 **The weeds here have grown thick and healthy, almost as if their celebrating the new arrival of students, I mean, I'm certainly am! I mean, I haven't seen seeds of despair like you lucky lot in a while, you should be grateful!**

 **Seeing the anxious eyes of the young shine with blooming murderous intent makes me oh-so happy.**

 **But remember, if you ever feel lost, don't be shy- talk to your friends or a teacher and try and get along.**

 **And... Let's all do lot's of killing too!**

 **I pray for the physical and mental well being of each student here for the new killing school semester.**

 **Because I can assure you that you will never forget your experience here.**

In the blackness of the emptiest and coldest abyss, Rantaro felt hot as the cold breezes made him pant. His skin stung like that one time he fell into a bush of stinging nettles, his eyes were dry as if he never blinked or moisturised them in his life, and his nose was blocked completely, making him breathe through his sore and dry mouth.

He felt awful.

He didn't know where he was.

It was...

The abyss seemed to become slightly brighter, or his eyes had adjusted to the darkness he couldn't tell, bright enough to see where he was. Suddenly his body felt cured, no longer did he feel hot, ill, sore or in pain. His eyes twitched as everything came into his view.

It was...

Something straight out of a Lovecraftian Horror.

A sea of something indescribable, a sea of writhing and crawling _things_ that his mind didn't, or couldn't completely comprehend, vaster than the meagre universe they all resided in. It was dark and somewhat self luminous, yet it always changed. He could see clearly, the fuzzy, the indescribable and the most easily describable. He could see the love, the hate, the lies and the truth. He could feel the air crushing him, lifting him, suffocating him. He could hear nothing, yet understand everything. It was like a mesh of every colour in existence, even the colours humanity couldn't see or even comprehend.

He couldn't even see himself anymore, all there was was a fuzzy grey silhouette.

Was it a dream of paradise? A dream of utopia?

Or was it a nightmare of despair? A hellscape of destruction?

How was he still alive? He felt like his mind should of been fried.

Something inside of him came to life, as sudden as flipping a switch, his whole entire being jolting from the intense sensation.

This was the most well, the most energetic he's felt in a while. He felt like the universe's most fittest, the most healthiest being.

He walked around, taking in the sights. The ground underneath his bare feet felt fleshy, alive and cold, but it didn't bother him at all. Even the sky wasn't normal, it was grey and static like a TV with nothing to share, stare at it too long and it hurt ones eyes and mind.

There was nothing but the fleshy grey grounds and sky, and the sea of... Crawling Chaos. Yeah, that sounded appropriate enough.

Why was he here?

Was this the afterlife?

Was this a dream?

The sea groaned, the indescribable mess parted and mixed together. Spirals of chaos lifted from the sea, ascending and becoming one into the grey sky above. Something in his mind told him, no, _begged_ to go into the sea, to join them and become a superior being, a God. The sea wanted to claim his body, to join its mind to theirs.

He tried to ignore it, but as the endless minutes passed the voice became a legion, all begging him to join the sea with the rest of his brethren, to join in the pleasures and rule this empty and chaotic world. The sea parted near him, a grey and smooth tendril reached out to him, moving in a hypnotic way that put his mind in a blissful trance that was ignorant to the world around it.

The tendril touched his right leg, the trance ending as his mind and body burned like a thousand suns. The tendril recoiled violently, retreating back into the sea, once again becoming indescribable like the rest.

He wanted to scream, scream for help, scream for anybody to find him, to save him-

He touched his face.

'Oh...'

But he had no mouth, therefore he cannot scream.

"You shouldn't be here."

A woman's voice stood out from the groaning and screams of the Crawling Chaos, soft yet firm.

"You need to head back."

Eyes of crystal brown stared at him. A solid gem where the eyes should of been, glowing a warm soft light, the only truly describable thing in this universe.

"Now."

* * *

..?

Was he... Sleeping?

He had woken up and for the past minute he had been staring at the ceiling, unblinking. He felt comfortable in his bed, soft and velvety. His mind no longer felt the burn of the legion of voices, the pain in his stomach had dulled but still ached. And his eyes, for whatever reason, felt like someone had hair dried them underneath the baking sun.

But his right leg stung, it still burnt from the tendril from his dream. And his left leg had extra weight pushing against it from Monotaro, who was peacefully resting his head on his leg, fast asleep. He wanted to push him off.

'Bleh, too tired.'

He also noticed something itching his skin on his stomach, looking down he realised that is was a wool belly warmer (and his shirt was missing). He winced, he had no idea why it was on and quite honestly he wasn't going to remove it as it was there for a reason, even if it was going to give him a nasty rash later.

His Monopad was on his desk, inactive.

It was quiet, the only noise being the muffled music from behind the doors into the dormitory, but he didn't recognise it, both from the muffle and how he wasn't entirely awake yet.

Rantaro held his hand up before letting it fall back onto the blanket, his body too tired to function properly.

He felt dead on the inside.

And his body felt cold.

Quite honestly, he felt like a corpse.

...

...He needed to get up. He didn't know how long he's been out for.

But his body didn't want to move, it was far too comfortable on his bed.

Maybe a few minutes longer?

"...Yeah, that sounds nice."

So he closed his eyes and patiently waited for sleep to take him.

 **Ding dong! Ding dong!**

It didn't happen, his eyes shot open as someone was killing his ears via ringing of the bell for his door. He groaned, half annoyed and half tired. He desperately wanted to go to sleep, to not go outside and not join in the killing game. But he had to go out eventually.

 **Ding! ding! ding! ding! ding! dong!**

He hasn't even been up for a minute and he already wants to go to sleep, and the ringing...

'Shut up!'

As if the world heard his pleas the ringing promptly stopped, nearly making him cry out in joy. A muffled voice came from behind the door, followed from slight rattling from the door before stopping. The door opened, the music was clear, now identifiable as 'Become Friends', and behind the door-

...Revealed both Kokichi and Kirumi.

"My beloved Rantaro woke up, yay!" The smaller teen cheered, running up to his bed and immediately jumped on top of him as soon as he reached the edge, kicking Monotaro off and started to crush Rantaro. "You're okay!"

Kokichi blinked, hearing a choked wheeze from underneath made him realise his mistake and immediately jumped off. He giggled at the sight of a gasping Rantaro. "Nee-heehee! Sorry! I was so excited to see you again, I couldn't help myself. "

Kirumi had a faint smile on her face as she looked at the scene in front of her with fondness in her expression, a small tray of buttered egg toast and a glass of water. She walked over to Rantaro and placed the back of her hand on his forehead. She frowned for a moment, looking confused before turning to Kokichi and began to sign.

Kokichi blinked once again before signing back.

Rantaro couldn't help but look at them both, more so Kokichi, in curiosity. He wasn't too well reversed in sign language, let alone Japanese sign language, so he didn't have the slightest clue what they signing each other, especially since they were signing too damn fast to the point he was expecting one of them to snap their fingers or something. He wasn't even aware that Kokichi knew sign language.

'The more you know.' He guessed.

He also noticed small traces of soil on his finger tips and under his nails.

He looked over to the over the bed side of the bed, Monotaro was lying on his back with his legs hanging in the air, still somehow fast asleep.

He continued to examine both Ultimate's as they continued to sign before they stopped a few seconds later with a somewhat annoyed looking Kirumi and a smug Kokichi.

Kirumi put down the tray on the desk next his bed and took out her notepad and begin to quickly write, crossing out some words before showing him.

 _'I brought you food and a glass of water, just as you requested. My apologies about the delay, but Monokuma had requested us and told us more about the Killing Game we are in, everyone is on edge.'_

"Yeah..." Kokichi pouted, "We tried escaping through the Death Road of Despair yesterday after you passed out, and well..."

'Ah.' He didn't need any explanation for that one. And it seemed he was passed out for the rest of yesterday after the game had been announced. But he did need an explanation for something else.

"Sorry, I don't remember asking about my breakfast."

"Oh? You don't remember?" The supreme tilted his head. "Then again you were quite delirious. You were trying to crawl towards the dining hall looking so exhausted I thought you were a zombie." He snickered, "Kaito screamed like a little girl, it was funny."

As Kokichi snickered at the recent memory, Rantaro couldn't help but crack his fingers and arms. He didn't remember anything since he last passed out, which was in the gym. Nothing about crawling to the dining hall or Kaito screaming.

He groaned, he must of been really out of it for him not to remember.

"Do you always do that?"

"Do what?"

"You know the... Cracking?" Kokichi paled, looking rather nauseous as Rantaro immediately did the same to his joints on his legs and toes.

Feeling awake enough, Rantaro got off his bed and stood up, nearly falling back down as he stood up too fast. "My joints get stiff after awhile, though its more around the arms and fingers if anything."

'Among other things.' He quietly noted.

He stretched his back, sides and neck, all producing the same effects, much to Kokichi's displeasure. "Mmmhmm. Theeere," A loud crack echoed around the room from his neck, "We go, that's better."

"Ugh. That's so gross."

"Rude."

All he got was a half-hearted snort from a grossed out Kokichi, who had unconsciously began to rub his elbows. Kirumi bowed, signing to Kokichi before she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Rantaro couldn't help but yawn as he sat back down on his bed, reaching to his tray of food and putting it on his lap. Two pieces of buttered and salted egg toast and a small glass of water, a simple meal he liked to make when he felt like doing something simple. "So," Rantaro began, taking a small test bite of the toast. "What happened while I was out?"

He flinched at the strong overwhelming taste that assaulted his tongue, and took a sip of the apple juice, which had the same effect. He was half tempted to stop and spit it out, but goddammit he was hungry and he had thrown up multiple times yesterday, he was going to eat something if that was the last thing he did.

Kokichi plonked down next to him, kicking his legs back and forth. "The same as before to be honest." He went in for the piece of toast, only for him to retract his hand as Rantaro slapped his hand away and took another bite, barely holding back his flinch. "We attempted the death trap, Monokuma told us about the killing game in proper, but he didn't get destroyed." He snickered. "And Shuichi and Kaede went off to make babies together, Nee-heehee!"

He nearly coughed out a piece of toast at that last bit.

"I also checked out the ninja statue that the Monokubs replaced last night before we all went to sleep." Kokichi added, reaching under his checkered scarf. "It's this." And pulled something out.

It was a bronze key that looked like it came straight from the Victorian times, with a small paper note tied to its three ringed bow. Rantaro looked at the key in confusion before he took the key in his hands and examined the note, hoping to get an answer.

 **Congratulations on completing part one of the puzzle!**

 **Next!**

 **A room of the mage holds a silver needle.**

 **Sing a song of Cinderella to calm the beast.**

 **Stab the needle in its heart.**

 **Twist 90 degrees clockwise, twist 180 degrees anti clockwise.**

 **Play the song of the ancient twins.**

 **And receive the second key to your salvation.**

 **This is the puzzle of the silver song.**

Rantaro blinked, rereading it. "Another piece of the puzzle?"

"Yep!" Kokichi grinned. "I dug into the soil and broke a nail on the chest it was in." His grin suddenly turned into an annoyed pout, holding up his index finger, with the indeed broken nail attached.

"It was in a chest?" Rantaro muttered. Then again, he guessed it would of been dumb to just put the key in the soil and have nothing protect the key and the note from getting damaged. He rolled the key in his hands, quietly noting how warm it was. "Did you take the chest-"

"Monokuma took it."

He blinked, pausing. "He did?"

"Heck yeah I did kiddo!"

The sudden third and familiar voice nearly Rantaro jump out of his skin and knocked his tray into the air as Monokuma fell from the ceiling and onto the floor, doing a perfect landing. Kokichi growled at the unwanted guest, almost unaware of the panicked scuffle to his side as Rantaro immediately caught the tray before catching the rest of the toast and drink, the only damage being a slight spill. He then immediately began to devour the toast like his life depended on it.

Monokuma's white side had a faint blush on his cheeks. "Awww, did I interrupt something? My sincerest apologies," The sarcastic and condescending tone in his voice was practically dripping out from his maw and tongue. "But please hold off on all sexual activity until the condom machine is available, okay? While it could be a good mystery, I don't think anyone wants to die via AIDS."

"What did you do to the chest?"

The bear pouted, clearly hoping to rile at least one of them. "I kept it for safe keeping of course. Those are vintage, one of a kind chests after all and killing all of you won't be enough to replace one of these babies." He rubbed the back of his head. "But enough about boring vintage chests and the potential organ trafficking I'll have to do. That isn't the reason I came to interrupt your little love session." Monokuma snapped his bear paws together, pointing at Rantaro. "You!"

He blinked, again. "Me?"

"Yeah, you! I need to talk to you in private."

"Wh- Why-"

"Do you want to know how the Killing Game is gonna work or are you gonna be a comic relief that no one likes?" Monokuma asked, drawing out a sharp claw and scraping in against the floor, making a hideously distorted screech and leaving an impressive claw mark behind. "That means you have to leave Kokichi, now."

The Supreme Leader hesitated for a moment, his face blank and emotionless. "Oh well, can't do anything about that I suppose. As long as no harm comes to my beloved Rantaro, I guess I can oblige." He got off of the bed before heading towards the door. Before he left however, he turned his head slightly towards Rantaro and mouthed some words to him before leaving, closing the door behind him.

Rantaro's eyes narrowed, trying to figure out what he had mouthed. 'Meet... me in... the... Library? Was that it?'

"Upupupu~" Monokuma suddenly climbed onto the bed, perching his butt beside him. "Now that the distractions gone... How are you feeling~?"

"I'm... Fine?" He tilted his head, taking a sip of his water. Why was he concerned? "Why do you ask?"

"Well~ I was worried that you died suddenly before the game had officially started." Monokuma shrugged nonchalantly. "I heard that my earlier incantation may have caused it, and if I had killed one of my students without reason, I'd be out of a job! I mean, if you broke a law I could quite easily kill you but you hadn't and-" Monokuma paused, his red eye dulling before becoming bright red. He suddenly went to the other side of the bed, looking surprised to see a still asleep Monotaro in a much more awkward position than before.

Monokuma sighed. "Monotaro, wake up my adorable little cub, daddy's home."

No response.

"Monotaro~"

Still, no response.

"If you don't respond, daddy will be short one child and I'm not going to be happy to see that one of my adorable and most favourite cub had been killed."

Nadda.

Monokuma drew out the rest of his claws, clearly ready to either off him or give him the world's worst wake up call.

"Monotaro sweetie?" Rantaro called gently, stopping the murderous bear in his tracks. "It's time for you to wake up."

That, on the other hand, did get a response out of him.

Monotaro's body seemed to jolt slightly, a soft, strangely robotic groan escaped his maw as his red eye slowly flickered to life. "Few more... Minutes, father." He yawned. "I'm still... Beating you at... Kario Mart."

'Kario Mart?' Rantaro nearly said outloud, before snorting when he realised what the rip off he was referencing was. "Sweetie, come on now, it's important."

"...M'kay."

Clearly disoriented and lethargic, the cub clumsily got onto his feet and began to climb back up the bed. Monotaro yawned before stumbling onto Rantaro's side, curling up with a content look on his face.

Rantaro smiled, and couldn't help himself as he ran his fingers through his soft fur on top of his head. Monotaro giggled in response, nuzzling into his hand, clearly content and pleased.

Monokuma just stared, a furious expression on his face. However he had calmed down from his rage, which was replaced with a look of shock before before being replaced with panic. "Monotaro- what, I'm your father! He's one of the students!"

"Mhhmm?"

"So he's going to die!"

"Hmmmmhmm."

"Is it because I'm a single father?" He questioned, practically begging at this point. "I'll be a better dad, I swear, I'll even let you eat all of the junk food you want!"

"Daddy?" Monotaro yawned, still referring to Rantaro. "Why is my new brother trying to say that he's my dad?"

The room suddenly went dead silent, the air thick and tense. Rantaro could feel a cold sweat form on his skin, his hairs standing on ends as Monokuma just stared at the both of them, his eye once again becoming bright, but this time with a much darker hue. "...I see."

 **"Rise and shine, ursine~"**

And with their catchphrase, all of the remaining Monokubs popped out of the floor boards as usual, looking a little more stable than before. However it seemed like the cubs were still a little shaken up from the trauma of losing their Exisals. Monokid did still look a little red in the face, some little bits of honey comb smeared across his mouth.

"Daddy," Monophanie began, nervously twiddling her paws together, "Something happened to 'it'."

"Is pretty bad." Monosuke continued.

"VERY."

"Heck yeah."

Monokuma looked at the cubs before sighing in disappointment. His previous rage and dilemma gone, replaced with peace and acceptance. "My adorable children, I'm afraid Monotaro has been whisked away, he is no longer a Monokub nor a member of the prestigious Monokuma family." He pulled out a bouquet of orange lily's, what he believed was begonia and a packet of nuts of some description out of nowhere and put them onto the bed.

The Monokubs had expressions mixed from upset and confused.

"Huh?! Daddy-"

"Hush!" Monokuma retracted his claws and crossed his little arms. "You cubs better go back and keep an eye on the students. I swear if you adorable little cubs mess up anything else..."

The now 4 bear Monokubs shivered in fear from the aura their father was producing. They knew exactly what he was like when angry, they hated it when he was angry, he was always aggressive and always violent. But he loved them, always praised and adored them, and the children loved him for it.

He was their dad, they had to love him.

Monotaro fell back to sleep, softly snoring on Rantaro's lap, his voice becoming robotic once more.

"Now get lost! This is a private conversation!"

"Y-Yes father!"

 **"So long, bear well!"**

Monokuma huffed as soon as the four Monokubs disappeared into the floor boards, tapping the floor in a slow rhythm with his foot. "Kids, I am right?" Monokuma said in a joking tone. The bear coughed, clearing his throat. "Anyway, the reason I've come here. Did your boyfriend tell you about the Killing Game in proper?"

"A bit. And we're not boyfriends."

"Aw... Are you sure about that? A cute romantic relationship is perfect for despair in this Killing Game." Monokuma pouted. "The fans will love it! Especially the nasty fujoshi's that clamour around for their 'fetishes' and 'sinners'."

He couldn't help but scowl at that, mostly at how true the second one was.

"What fans?"

"Oh well, can't win them all I suppose." Monokuma shrugged, completely ignoring the question. "Well anyway. Can you check the Monopad for the rules, there may be an error I need to correct so no one does anything stupid on accident."

"Okay..."

'Odd, what error was there?' He reached over to his desk, picking the Monopad up and turning it on. Thankfully it turned on completely within a few seconds and he found himself on the main screen, which he quickly changed to the rules and regulations screen.

He began to read them out loud:

" _ **#1:** **Students are required to cohabitate at the Ultimate Academy for the remainder of the unforeseeable future.**_ "

 _ **#2: When a murder is committed in the academy, a class trial will be conducted. Participation in this trial is mandatory for all surviving students. However unless a student is severely injured or ill, they will be given the option to not attend as long as they shown the events of the trial.**_

 _ **#3: If the killer (hereinafter referred to as "the blackened") is correctly identified during the class trial, only the blackened will be punished for their crime.**_

 _ **#4: If the blackened cannot be identified, or if an incorrect student is identified as the blackened, all students except the blackened will be punished for the crime.**_

 _ **#5: If the blackened survives the class trial, they are declared the winner. At which point, they will graduate from the Ultimate Academy and re-enter the outside world.**_

 _ **#6: If innocent students (hereinafter referred to as "the spotless") continue to survive class trials, the killing game will continue until only two students remain.**_

 _ **#7: "Nighttime" is officially designated as the hours between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. During this time, the dining hall and gymnasium are closed.**_

 _ **#8: All acts of violence toward Monokuma, the headmaster of the Ultimate Academy, are strictly prohibited.**_

 _ **#9: Monokuma will never directly participate in a murder.**_

 _ **#10: Your Monopads are very important items. Make sure you do not damage them.**_

 _ **#11: A body discovery announcement will occur when three or more students discover a body. This does not apply to the blackened.**_

 _ **#12: Students have free rein to explore the Ultimate Academy as they see fit.**_

 _ **#13: Students who violate these rules will be exterminated with extreme prejudice by the Exisals.**_

 _ **#14: The headmaster may add additional regulations to this list at any time.**_ "

Looked like there was a slight edit with one of rules as far he could tell, but that seemed to be it.

"Ahh, so yours was faulty as well."

"Faulty?"

"Eh, intruder did it. Servers are shut down so the update didn't properly upload on everyone's pads." Monokuma explained and snatched the Monpad from his hands, quickly clicking on some icons and slid his paw across the screen before handing it back to him with an evil grin. Rantaro hesitated, but looked at what he added.

" ** _#15: Due to problems with the system, anyone who tries to enter any of the recent Ultimate Labs and off limited areas and floors will be immediately exterminated. This rule is effective immediately until the systems are back online._**

 _ **#16: If two different victims by two different murders occur at the same time, only the one who's victim's found first will be the blackened.**_ "

'Oh?' Rule 16 was familiar to him but rule 15 is new.

"Rule 15 was only added because of the intruder." Monokuma shrugged. "As soon as everything is back online, everything will be back to normal and everyone can have a normal killing game. Speaking of..."

Just like with the flowers, out of nowhere he pulled out another Monopad, one with a casing that looked like someone threw up skittles on it, cleaned it to an extent with the stains being unable to come out and the person calling it a day and leaving it as is.

And on closer inspection, he then immediately realised that this was a Kubs Pad, the second motive that appeared in the game.

'Already?'

'Interesting,' He thought. 'Is there no First Blood Perk like in the game?'

"Here is one part of the motive!" Monokuma clarified. "This is the Kubs Pads, a nifty little item that holds the secret of your loved ones. Think it as a way to see your loved ones before they hit the dust."

"Excuse me?"

"Your loved ones are your family, your friends, and your lovers. The ones that you hold dear to yourself, the ones close to you... Are all on that Kubs Pad, well, half of it."

"Excuse me, again?"

"Well, the intruder did do some, ah, damage to the motives we already had. But thankfully this one is still usable!" Monokuma chirped. "You see, this was all one video, however the video itself is locked behind a special lock accessed by a specific code located somewhere throughout the first levels of the academy. You just have to search around the academy and find your pads code and boom! Video's unlocked and the motive is complete!"

"And what if we don't want to find our video's?"

"Well, don'tcha want to see your sisters again?" Monokuma questioned, tilting his head ever so slightly.

'...So he does have that. Would be suspicious if I didn't react properly.'

"What?!" Rantaro snapped, his face warped into a snarl, nearly tempted to bear his teeth but realising that it might be slightly overboard. "My sisters?!"

Well, at least he was good at being/acting angry.

"All 12 of them!" Monokuma started to laugh. "If you don't believe me, find the code! And then you'll realise that in order to find them, murdering and getting away with it is the only way to save your siblings! So if you want to escape-"

Monokuma waddled up to him, forcing his face close up to his own. Rantaro felt the air around them thicken, his hair once again standing on ends as Monokuma's red eye glowed the darkest of reds. He instinctively gripped on Monotaro's fur, somehow not ripping the fur off or waking him.

"Kill someone and get away with it. That is the rule of this academy." Monokuma cackled. He jumped off the bed and headed towards the door before stopping. He turned back to him, a small bashful blush on his white side. "Whelp, that's all really. Please remember to refrain from having sex until you have protection, don't want to catch an STD afterall."

"Please leave."

The headmaster laughed, waving him off before opening the door to leave. However someone at the door stopped him from leaving.

It was Miu, oddly enough. Who squeaked as soon as she saw who was at the door. "The fuck, why are you here?!"

"Oh? Just giving some sex ed to one of my curious students." Monokuma laughed once more. Before anyone could say anything else, Monokuma quickly waddled off and left through the dormitory door, his job done.

The rooms atmosphere seemingly returned to normal, no longer did it feel tense enough to choke someone in and get away with murder. Rantaro couldn't help but run his fingers through Monotaro's fur once more, this time fixing up the fur he messed up. It was normal, nice even.

And then Miu opened her mouth.

"W-What the hell?!" Miu spluttered, tears threatening to escape her eyes, for some reason. "Are you really fucking micro dick?! I was joking about you two blowing each other earlier, I was right?!" She then went silent, then to up the creepy factor her cheeks turned a deep red, a perverted look on her face. "...Do you give good blowjobs? I can give you some tips."

"No, please."

Quite honestly if Kokichi didn't ask him to go to the library, he would of just went back to sleep and do nothing for the day. But since Kokichi did say that (plus there was no way he was going to get out if he just slept all day) unfortunately he has to get up and painfully walk to the library.

Too early.

"Miu, what time is it?"

"It's... Around 12:10?"

...Still too early. Oh well.

"Alright then. I should get up then..." He paused, remembering something. "Why were you outside my door anyway?"

"N-No reason. I was just... Looking for Kirumi, yes!" She nodded to herself, almost unaware of the fact she was starting to sweat and panic. "My newest invention involves maids, so I was looking for her." She grinned, her panic gone and now completely assured. "That's my reason!"

"Okay... Kirumi just left a few minutes ago, so she's not here."

"Huh? Oh, right..." Her expression became disheartened. "Guess I'll go find her then." She was about to leave, dejected-

Then Rantaro remembered something really important.

"Oh, Miu! I need to ask you something, you're an inventor, right?"

Dumb question.

"Of course I am?! Don't you remember green pubes, I'm the **Ultimate Inventor** , Miu Iruma!"

"Well, I was hoping you would do me a favour..."

* * *

"Oh? So your gonna try and..."

"Yep... And I need those as a back up..."

"Yeah, sure I can do that... Those things are like simple rocks for my genius intellect."

"Good, when do you think you can make them."

"A day or so. Depending if I can find the right stuff."

"Alright. Better than nothing. Thank you Miu."

"Not a problem green pubes! Now how about some sugar before I leave?"

"The most sugar I'm giving you is a simple handshake, maybe a kiss on the cheek if I feel like it."

"Awww..."

* * *

Miu had just left after the order for the 'special equipment' had been placed. While Rantaro was still wondering why she was at his door at the first place, he decided to think on that later and instead decided to check his room for any special things that may have been hidden about. And after a few minutes of searching, in the end he found-

One: He found a shirt. It was in the closet with the other countless copies of his clothes, as well as a few curiously different styled clothes he was definitely going to put on in the future. And in his room was a large mirror right on his desk, and on top and inside said desk was a ton of make up appliances such as eyeliner, nail polish and foundation. There was some hair clips scattered around messily (which he cleaned up) as well and some equipment you would see at a hairstylists place.

So much power for one person. He was going to have a blast with this later.

Two: There was a Monokuma doll in his room. It was wearing an adorable pink backpack and was walking around in his closet. And it turned out if you squeezed it, it would say it's signature quotes such as 'It's... Punishment Time!' and all three variations of his laugh. The 'Upupupu', the 'Puhuhuhu' and the 'Nyuk-Nyuk-Nyuk.' It made it even more adorable.

Three: His knife was inside a steel cased box, located at the end of his bed. There were two other things located in the box, the very same cardboard collectors box he made when he was a kid with his dad that contained the old 1940-1950's Tom and Jerry DVD's he found at a car boot sale for a surprisingly cheap price, joined with some Looney Toon DVD's. The other thing was a little leather bound diary, complete with a simple black ballpoint pen.

While he was extremely confused as to why his old cartoons were in there, he had to admit the diary would be good for keeping notes for himself as well as trying to figure out any patterns or strangeness happening in the academy, any specific traits with some students, etc.

And, well, that seemed to be it for his room. So he should probably leave.

He looked towards his bed, where Monotaro was still sleeping away. He was considering leaving him there, but-

...

He needs to go to the toilet before he leaves for the library. He hadn't gotten the chance to take a break since yesterday.

Was the last time he went even yesterday though?

'Eh, whatevs.'

* * *

"..."

"..."

"..?"

"Oh crud, forgot I was a boy."

He laughed. Hopefully the toilet trip won't end as a disaster.

* * *

"Alrighty, which way was the library again?"

He had now left the dormitory, and with a new shirt and a sleeping Monotaro in hand (or technically arms) he made his way towards the academy, doing his best to ignore the still blazing heat. It made his body sweat more than usual thanks to the belly warmer he was wearing, making him scowl as sweat had already started to soak his new shirt.

'Probably should of went for those clothes.'

But that was going to be another time, tomorrow if it's still hot. He still had some make up items lying around in his case, so maybe some he could use them?

Meh.

He rubbed Monotaro's fur with his thumb, the smooth and healthy fur was doing wonder's for his stimulation.

"Oh, hey Rantaro?"

His head perked up, and turned his head towards the source of the somewhat cheery voice. Kaede had a small smile on her face as she jogged up to him, and strangely enough Shuichi was nowhere in sight.

"Hey Kaede, how are you?"

"Shouldn't I be asking that?" Kaede raised a brow. "You were unconscious all morning since yesterday, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Kirumi just delivered breakfast and Kokichi gave me a basic rundown of what happened yesterday." He adjusted his arms, nearly shaking the small bear too hard. "I thought I would look around some more."

"Oh, okay."

"So, where's your boyfriend?"

"Shuichi isn't my boyfriend..." Kaede's cheeks flushed a light pink, the pink becoming a dark red when she noticed the highly amused look from the taller boy and realised her mistake. "He's just exploring around as well. Looking for... You know."

"The code?"

A quiet and short nod answered his question.

"I see, does everyone else know?"

"Monokuma told us all during breakfast." Kaede explained. "He has everyone on edge right now." She stared at Monotaro, somehow still asleep. "Have you gotten anything out of him?"

"Not much... He's been sleeping ever since I woke up. But apparently I'm the official dad now, considering Monokuma just put him up for adoption the moment he forgot who he was."

Kaede looked rather surprised by this revelation, but didn't say anything. "So we can get the information out of him when he wakes up?"

"Hopefully, yes. But for now I'll be looking after him." He paused. "Hey, can you do me a favour?"

"Huh, sure?"

"Don't watch the video if you find your code. Monokuma is going to try to raise our suspicions and anxiety with the searching, and if the video's are the motives then these will most likely cause more distrust and fear among us all."

"Don't worry, I wasn't going to. But the others may be trying to find their codes right now, and I don't think I can do much about the others."

She had a point, an easy to see point but still a point. "I'll be keeping an eye on them then. I'm pretty sure everyone has people their worried about right now, and considering our situation it's understandable why they would want to see the video's, even if..."

Even if they all ended badly, even if they were all fake to everyone else's truth.

"...Hey Rantaro?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have anyone you care about in the outside world?"

He froze in thought, the strange and odd question for whatever reason plucked at certain strings at the back of his brain. It was a good question, did he? If he was Rantaro, he would defiantly respond with his sisters.

But he wasn't.

Kaede's expression turned to one of slight panic, the strange, almost angry expression on his face made her realise that it probably wasn't a good idea to ask such a question. She was about to apologise, when Rantaro's expression turned neutral, almost soft.

Then he looked at her, a big happy smile on his face yet his green eyes full of sadness and barely hidden hysteria.

"Nope! There is no one I care about in the outside world."

...What?

"..Huh?"

"Well, I should be going otherwise Kokichi's gonna complain."

"O-Okay."

And just like that, he carried on towards the academy, whistling the tune playing from the speakers.

Kaede stared at Rantaro's retreating form, watching him walk through the doors and disappear into the building. She was silent, trying to consider her options.

'That look... Wasn't normal was it?'

Those eyes had something dangerous in them, she could tell. It felt like he could snap at any moment in distress. If that was the case...

She faltered somewhat, however her will returned as her mind was made up.

And so Kaede followed him, sneakily as possible.

...No matter how many odd looks she was going to get.

* * *

"Mhhm... Father?"

Rantaro hummed, pleased to see that Monotaro had finally woken up. "Hey sweetie, you feelin' awake?"

The ex-son of the murderous Monokuma yawned, static blaring out from his speakers for a split second before it returned to normal. "Yep, I'm feeling all awake now. Where are we?"

Currently Rantaro was taking a detour around the academy, quickly scanning around to see if anything was different. The only things that seemed different was that the **Student Store** was now open for business, which meant a lot of furniture abuse was going to happen soon, and that areas that shouldn't even be open yet were now open, however plenty of 'keep out!' tape was blocking each way.

'Guess I'm not seeing my lab any time soon huh?'

He saw some other students about, some were just chilling about such as Tenko who was trying to start a casual conversation with Himiko, who was failing miserably and a perky Angie who was just smiling at them. And others were searching around for the code, such as Kaito, was looking behind every nook and cranny he could get behind.

He also noticed that a certain anthropologist was quietly sitting on one of the dining halls chairs, keeping close to himself. Kirumi was also in the room but was searching through the fridge in the kitchen segment.

He did wave at him and said a small hello to Kiyo, but he would always nervously focus his attention onto another direction. Rantaro had to guess that this version was much more shy and nervous than the original.

It was so... Weird.

But, if he didn't want to talk to him, that was fine, he respected his privacy.

"We're just heading to to Library now." In fact he was just walking down the stairs and heading to the basement right now. "Sweetie, can you do me a massive favour and stay outside here please? I'm about to enter a private conversation with someone for our ears only-"

"Okay!" Surprisingly Monotaro didn't object, and as soon as they neared the library door Monotaro hopped out of his arms and obediently plonked his behind down next to the door began to casually fiddle with his scarf.

'What a chill bear.'

And with him out of the way, Rantaro opened the door, fully expecting to make a dramatic entrance.

But all he got was a face full of dust and the musty smell of old books-

"Blehhh?!"

Caused by an avalanche of falling books that was once leaning against the door.

"Eeeeee-"

Crushing, and smothering his very being, killing him.

...

Well, okay I lied, the avalanche was quite small and it really only went up to his knees, the worse he got was a book to the forehead (that one part of the forehead that, for a split second, makes you feel the entire pain of the universe? That part.) that was sure to leave a small bruise. But why were there so many books just casually pilled in front of the door like that?

Wait. He had a guess.

"Nee-heehee!"

'Bingo.'

Kokichi Oma popped his head out from another pile of books laying next to the pretty globe which lights flickered every so often. He had some dust on his face and a small hardcover book lying open and staying perfectly balanced on his head.

"Sorry Rantaro~ I was just trying to lay down some traps so I won't get murdered." Kokichi winked, sticking his tongue out. However his expression suddenly turned turned serious as he came out from the pile of scattered books with another, thinner book in hand and went up towards him. He held out the book, looking around cautiously. Rantaro stared at the mystery book in confusion before taking it to examine it himself.

'..?'

"It was in the chest with the key." Kokichi explained, "It seemed important, so I didn't mention it earlier.' He hushed him before he could even ask. "It's in English, I can't read it."

'..? Aren't we already speaking English? Or are we really speaking Japanese and my mind is translating it?' He questioned, staring suspiciously at the title, the title he could read perfectly fine without any difficulty.

But the title... Confused him.

' _Amazing_ _Theories on Dimension Hopping!'_

"Huh?"

He opened the book, cringing slightly as he was met with a large wall of tiny text, all scrunched up together in a big jumbled and in comprehensible mess. The sight was making his eyes and brain ache. He squinted, hoping to get a small understanding for at least one of these sentences.

'One... Requirments... Datastream..?'

He winced, a painful headache was starting to make itself known.

'Nope, it hurts too much.'

But, it was all in English, he could probably decipher it eventually.

"I can read this, but it's going to take awhile." Rantaro concluded out loud. "It's all so jumbled together, I can barely make out any words right now."

Kokichi nodded, understanding. "I never knew you could understand English as well."

"I'm full of surprises."

"Nee-heehee! Thankfully I know every language out there!"

"You just said that you couldn't read English not even a minute ago."

"I'm a liar, remember?

Rantaro snorted. "I can tell, you seem to do it all the time."

"Duh, I can't trust anyone here, not even you. However due to our shenanigans I think I can trust you juuuust a little bit." Kokichi grinned. "I mean, I am a compulsive liar after all, riiiiight?"

"Yes."

Kokichi looked distraught at that. "Meanie! You're supposed to say, 'my lovely Kokichi is just misunderstood' or 'my boyfriend is just a bit playful.'"

'Oh trust me buddy, you're anything but 'misunderstood.'

"Whatever you say. Also can you not call me your boyfriend anymore?" Rantaro politely requested. "It's going to give everyone the wrong impression."

And then, and then the little purple fucker decided to do the worst thing possible. Kokichi turned on his heels, put his arms behind his head in the 'standard anime character pose' and innocently whistled, which meant what he had done was not innocent.

'He didn't...'

"Kokichi..."

"It wasn't my fault Tenko told everyone."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, it was more like, I made a joke and Tenko mentioned us being boyfriends and everyone now knows." Kokichi looked away, somewhat nervously, trying to avoid the emotionless eyes boring into his very soul. "But everyone's totally cool with it! I-"

"Kokichi. Was there anything else?"

"...No, not really. All I was going to say was to, keep an eye on everyone for today. Make sure no one gets up to anything suspicious."

"...Yeah, okay. Just-" Rantaro rubbed his head in frustration, a barely held back groan escaped his mouth. "Alright. Let's work together on this, alright? Just, help me get everyone out alive," Rantaro crouched, low enough for his head to reach the side of Kokichi own, right next to his ear and whispered- "I don't want to die again."

"...Neither do I." Kokichi admitted, his voice quiet and strangely timid. "It was...Cold and dark. It was a sensation that I'm pretty sure even Miu wouldn't enjoy." He laughed weakly at his own joke. "And even it was brief, the feeling is still there." He looked at him, dead in the eyes. "How long have you felt it?"

He...Really didn't know.

"A while, I remember it taking so long." Rantaro lied, silently praying that Kokichi couldn't tell. "It was terrible."

They both remained silent, the once joking conversation turned dark and heavy, ruining what little entertainment and life they had left. Kokichi continued to stare, a small hope lingered in his eyes that fought against the despair that everything was throwing at him.

Then, Kokichi said,

"There's a reason we're both alive and remembering."

"...Oh?"

"I'm not sure, but there is a reason. That's what my mind is telling me." Kokichi shuddered. "I want to find the truth of what happened. I want to find out why the academy has changed, why everyone has changed. Even if I have to lie to do it. Even if everyone hates me."

"I won't hate you."

Kokichi stared at Rantaro, who looked determined in what he said. "I won't hate you, even if you have to lie, it's for a good cause right? You lie for a reason, for everyone to survive, right?"

"..."

"Kokichi. Please. I want to help you, to help everyone escape." He put his hands on his shoulders, causing Kokichi to flinch and his body to stiffen up at the touch. "Can you trust me, even if just for a while?"

They both continued to stare into eachother's eyes, if this was a romance novel this would of been the part where they either embraced or leaned in for the kiss. However this wasn't a romance novel, they weren't in love.

They were both terrified of dying again.

"...Man~" Kokichi once more had a large grin on his face, clearly happy. "I didn't know you were such a sap for this type of stuff Rantaro, I thought you were cool and mysterious." He laughed. "Serves me right, right?"

And Rantaro couldn't help but laugh, even if it was to mostly stop the tears threatening to escape his eyes. "Guess I'm just different from what you thought I was, huh?"

The shorted boy lost his grin, replaced by a much more relaxed smile. "We'll figure out an escape tomorrow, we'll need to check everything and everyone, to make sure no one is planning anything nefarious."

Really, Rantaro just wanted to do this today. However they were currently half blind and unsure of what to do, a major improvement over everyone else. With the exception of the Mastermind, of course.

'Right, we need to deal with Tsumugi first, but how do I tell this to Kokichi when I quite clearly shouldn't know about it?'

"And Rantaro?"

"Yeah?"

"I did some asking around... I think we're only being examined by the camera's now."

"Wait, why do you say that?"

"Well, before I died, I had Miu make a special vacuum to suck up some curious little machines that big boy Gonta found. Which turned out to be, Monokubs!" Kokichi motioned around the room. "They all were tiny and had little camera's with them, which explained why the Mastermind could monitor us all so well! So, I asked Gonta if he could spot anything-"

"And he couldn't?"

"Bingo! There are none of those tiny terrors anymore, all we have to worry about is the camera's!"

The news had shocked Rantaro. 'Wait, even the Nanokuma's were down? Did the intruder seriously deactivate them as well?!"

He wasn't complaining, but it had him curious. What the heck did the intruder do and why?

'I swear if it turns out to be somehow Junko...'

"I-I see... That's good. We won't have to be as careful, right?"

"Yep, so we can do our secret activities better, y'know."

"Don't word it like that. So we'll investigate the area today and plan out everything tomorrow?"

"Pretty much." Kokichi shrugged. "Well, the best way to do this is to split up for today, and maybe be proper introduced with our 'friends'."

'Translation: I'll be doing Free Time Events, Kokichi's gonna bully Kiibo and get on everyone's nerves.'

"Welp, I better get going then!" Kokichi ran towards the door leading to the hallway before stopping before the door and waved back to Rantaro. "See you my beloved Rantaro!"

And just like that, he left, leaving the door slightly ajar and him alone.

Rantaro hummed, looking around the library. The place looked about the same (minus the collapsed pile of books, there were multiple bookcases filled with multiple books of multiple sizes littered around in and out of the bookcases. A step ladder that allowed people to get higher on the bookcases to get the books they wouldn't be able to reach otherwise. And there were no camera's here, which explained why Kokichi wanted to talk to him here specifically. There was also something else here, but he couldn't remembered for the-

Then he remembered.

The secret passage way.

Rantaro closed the book up before tucking it under his arm and headed towards the left side of the room, towards _that_ spot next to the special bookcase. For whatever reason, he felt overcome by a strong nausea as he neared the offending bookcases, making sure to stand a few feet away from the death spot before looking at the floor.

There were scrape marks, made by something heavy and large being dragged across the floor.

There it was.

The bookcase with no books on top, a stark difference to all of the other bookcases that had books on top.

'At least the path is the same. Even if we can't even get inside.'

His thoughts confirmed, he reached into one of the gaps of the bookcase, feeling around for a decent grip until his finger flipped an unexpected switch, a loud _'click!'_ echoed through the room.

'Uh-oh, was that switch always there?'

Silence.

At first nothing happened, the library was extremely quiet.

Then-

"Rantaro, look out!"

Out of absolute nowhere, Kaede Akamatsu had suddenly jumped from behind the entrance door, reaching out to grab Rantaro's waist and pulled him away. He couldn't help but scream in surprise and shock at the unexpected touch and roughness and at the scene of the familiar Spears of Gungnir pierced the air from small slots in the ground striking the spot where he once stood in all directions. The spears retracted a few seconds later, making it look like nothing life threatening had happened in the first place.

He gasped in pain, clutching his chest as he felt his heart beat so much and heavily it felt like it was about to explode. He tried to take in deep breathes, trying desperately to calm himself down before he had a heart attack.

"Hey, calm down, Rantaro!"

Kaede gently shook his shoulders, trying to snap him out of it.

"What the heck?!"

The pianist squeaked as Rantaro suddenly yelled in half anger and annoyance, his panic now gone he got to his feet and went over and glared at the bookcase. He was half tempted to kick it, half tempted to throw a chair at it.

But he caught himself before he could do, he needed to calm himself down before he did anything stupid that he'll most likely regret later. But there was something else he needed to check.

"Kaede? Why were you there?"

"Oh, me?" Kaede looked nervous. "I was... Uh-"

"Were you following me?"

"Well... Sorry." The pianist sighed, clearly knowing that she couldn't get away with this. "I just wanted to make sure that you were safe with Kokichi, that's all. He said some rather bad stuff this morning. I know he's your boyfriend, but..."

"...God damn it Kokichi." Rantaro hissed under his breath, he was going to wring the little bastards neck when he had the chance, he swears. But... What did he say earlier? Did he purposely rile everyone up again?

"Are you feeling alright?"

"No, I'm frustrated and upset, mostly from nearly dying by those stupid spears." He groaned into his palms. "I'm just, not well in the head right now."

Kaede looked at him in silence, thinking to herself and trying to decide the best course of action. If he was frustrated, he might hurt someone, intentionally or not, so she needed to find something to help him, and at the same time get to know him better.

She gasped, hitting her fist into her palm in realisation. "Hey, Rantaro, you know the store that opened?"

"Oh," Rantaro tilted his head. "The **Student Store**? What about it?"

"You know the Monocoins are the currency right?"

A nod, still confused.

"Do you know how to get them?"

A nod, more understanding and deadpan than before when he realised where she was going with this.

"How do you feel destroying the Library with me?

...He should say no, he really should.

'Fuck it.'

"Alright sure."

 **Free Time Event: Start!**

"Great!"

And so for the 30 minutes, both Rantaro and Kaede began to destroy the Library, from smashing the books up to pushing bookcases over. It was a total battleground of the violent slaps and throws, with each destroyed item a Monocoin popped out.

Maki Harukawa had planned to go to the Library for some peace and quiet, to think on her situation. However she noticed Monotaro casually sitting outside the door, and grew suspicious. Then she grew even more suspicious when loud banging and screaming rang out from the Library.

And immediately paled when she realised that Kaede was in there, again.

She may be the **Ultimate Assassin.**

But there were some things she did not want to mess with, and an angry pianist who probably had an eight pack was on the top of the list.

* * *

 **DANGANRONPA MINI-OMAKE!**

Kokichi snickered as he witnessed the hilarious and totally worth it event as Rantaro was instantly smothered underneath a sea of books and dust, covering him in a large pile of books. He popped out from his own smaller pile of books, a giant grin on his face for a prank well done.

"Come on Rantaro~ You fallen asleep?" He giggled, walking towards the large pile. "I didn't think it would knock you out-"

 **Ding Dong! Dong Ding!**

And then the monitor suddenly burst to life.

 **"A body has been discovered! Everyone, please gather in the library!**

"...Whoops."

* * *

 **Well, that's it for this chapter, the first of the Daily Life chapters before the eventual Deadly Life begins. Until that happens tho, we all have rather chill and long chapters to enjoy.**

 **Also Kokichi is difficult to write, but I hope he's in character enough, especially with the considerations I had to do with the time looping and possible trauma, especially with how smart and perspective he is.**

 **The poll results are already done, with the selected 3 being Kokichi, Miu and Tenko. However due to a silly miscalculation, there was actually supposed to be four people so I picked the next characters in the list who were Shuichi, Kaede and Maki. I selected their numbers (Shuichi 1-3, Kaede 4-6 and Maki 2-5) and rolled a die. It landed on a 4, so I picked Kaede. Thank you all for voting, and I hope you'll vote next time for FTE's.**

 **I plan of fixing up previous chapters (and this one) before I start the next one. There may be some errors I may have missed, especially with the Monokuma conversation that happened. Plus, I think I figured out how I'm doing (most) of the trials now, with the first one taking priority.**

 **Also, does anyone know a decent place where I can get copies of the academy map? I desperately need them.**

 **Thank you all so much for following this story so far, I really appreciate it.**

 **And as always, I hope you all have a good day.**

 **Ciao~**


	6. Pierce the Mind

**53 Lies and Counting.**

 _Chapter 6: Pierce the Mind._

 _Begin Recording 321drv111-0_ _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 **Free Time Events begin, and problems start to arise.**

 _ **.**_

 _'We spent a few minutes destroying the library, releasing some good ole' stress._

 _Kaede and I grew a little closer today.'_

"Thank you Kaede for the gift, I really appreciate it. I'll make sure to get you something as well."

"You don't have to do that." The pianist smiled before taking a sip of her boba tea, which most likely came from the Monomono Machine. "So, why don't you tell me a little more about yourself Rantaro?"

It had been a few minutes later when they had completely wrecked the library, and now both Rantaro and Kaede were sitting on the floor together, having casual conversations and talking about their situation. It was a nice conversation despite the subject matter, solely because there was no need for him to be in character like he was with Kokichi or Tsumugi.

 _'Then again,'_ He fiddled with the autumn coloured scarf Kaede gave him around his neck, happily snug in the soft fabric and being mindful of his bruised knuckles he caused by accidentally punching through a panel of a bookshelf. _'I'm pretty sure I was OOC around Kokichi. Eh, worry about that later.'_

He appreciated the gift, he always liked scarfs, they always made him feel safe. Unsurprising considering his childhood.

He also like sweet and spicy food, salty food, ice cream, pizza, many Asian dishes (Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Indian, Philippines, Singapore you name it), leather boots, books, little dolls and fluffy toys-

...Actually, to make long lists short, he was very easy to please. The only things he would never like is tea, alcoholic items, lavender and coffee, and even then he's kind because it's rude to be a bitch.

 _'But except with lavender. That shit is horrible against my nose.'_

But, the best way to win his heart was with food and other types of sweets and pastry. He was a simple person.

"Oh, there's nothing to special about me, I'm pretty sure everyone else here is far more interesting than me anyway." He chuckled. "But, I can tell you some minor stuff about me."

"That's fine, go ahead."

"Hmm... Let's see..." He hummed an unfamiliar tune, trying to think of an appropiate backstory. "Well, I travel around a lot."

"So to different parts of Japan or..?"

"Well, more like different parts of the world."

"Really? By what?"

"Boat. Unfortunately." Rantaro shuddered, unintentionally bringing up unpleasant memories. "I had a friend who let me travel around on holidays or on social meetings, but it was mostly on holidays. It's pretty fun learning about culture, like the folklore, food, heck it's even fun to look at how ones body language changes."

"Body language?" Kaede couldn't help but raise a brow at the odd and peculiar interest. She did notice the shudder, but decided not to comment on it. "So I guess you're pretty well rounded, huh? Looks like Kiyo may have competition." She joked.

"I guess. But one of my main focuses on these travels is the food and sometimes the architecture." He smiled. "I've always been a fan of Asian styled foods more than the typical Western ones, mostly the more 'unique' ones. And thanks to family connections, among other things, I'm pretty damn good at cooking, especially Indian food. However my main passion is making sweets like cakes and the like."

"Indian food? I don't think I've ever tried Indian food before, but I heard it's pretty good."

"I'd be happy to cook something for you guys in the future if you want. And I won't even charge you!"

"Thank you for the offer, but I think the offer can wait until until after we leave."

"Fair, fair. Anyway, have you ever been to places like Singapore or even Kuwait?"

"No, I've never really been out of Japan except to New York and Novoselic."

'Novoselic ay?'

"Shame, very nice places."

"But Rantaro, what was one of you're favourite countries to be in?"

"England." He said without hesitation. "I'm not going to spoil too much, but I lived there for a few years of my life."

 _'Technically all of my life, but details, details.'_

"What's it like?"

"Wet. Very, very wet, like most of England actually. It's also a living hell hole if you lived in area's like Redditch. Can't tell you what it's like having people constantly getting drunk, smashing up windows constantly, among other things..."

 _'And the questionable activities I would hear.'_

"Huh," Kaede looked somewhat disturbed at that. "Sounds like a nice neighbourhood. Did you become the **Ultimate Survivor** through drunken hardships?"

Rantaro almost snorted at the joke. "I don't think so, like I said my memory about the title is quite hazy. But... It wasn't entirely violence, the place was pretty tame most of the time and there were some rather nice places. But the summer's are brutal though, pretty fatal if you're not prepared."

"Is it really that hot?!"

"As far as I'm aware, there isn't really much air conditioning except in shops, and the houses were built to keep the heat in." He sighed. "It's not fun at all. But... I like it, I guess it just ticks with me. Even if my neighbour was a bloody knob." He coughed, hoping that didn't sound too British. "But enough about me, what about you? Any particular thing you fancy?"

"Me?" She blinked, for some reason clearly not expecting it. "Fancy?"

"Anything you like." He translated. "British slang, sorry."

"Well... I like my classical music, even though that's kinda obvious."

"That's fine. Why don't you tell me a little more about you're talent to start off with? I would like to know a little more about classical music."

 _'Otherwise this is gonna be strictly Rantaro FTE, and I don't need my own backstory when this is supposed to be a Kaede FTE.'_

Kaede let out a small 'ooh' in realisation, taking a another sip of her beverage. "How familiar are you about music? I'd figure you know some of the basics judging by how much you travel."

"Not too much. I really just listen to music that sounds nice and appealing, but I do know a bit about the piano."

 _'More like I can play Aria of the Soul and that's it.'_

"That's good. Any specific genre?"

"No, not really. Like I said, as long as it sounds appealing I'll listen to it. But I will admit I'm not the biggest fan of dubstep, though I don't mind it if used at a minimum. He hummed. "And quite honestly I'm mostly indifferent to classical."

"Oh."

"I don't hate it, don't worry. But I'm just... Alright with classical? There are few tracks I do like like Clair de Lune, Moonlight Sonata and Gymnopédie No. 1, then again they are the most well known..."

"No that's fine," Kaede smiled. "You still like them don't you? That's good enough."

Rantaro smiled, pleased to see nothing major seems to have changed with Kaede, well, other than her furniture destruction habits anyway. But he wondered...

"Have you been to many concerts?"

"Plenty. I performed to many people at concerts before, I even played songs like the three Waltzes, OP. 34 in front of an European king before."

...Most of this was information he's heard before...

"That's cool. Which one?"

"Oh, I'm not supposed to say, he wanted to keep his identity a secret after all."

 _'Guessing still Sonia's dad. Looks like this was a semi repeat of her original FTE.'_ He nearly frowned.

"This is gonna be a weird and out of nowhere question, but..." He shoved his thumbs under the waist of his pants, uncertain. "Do you have any siblings..?"

"..."

Rantaro began to sweat as Kaede's smiling face suddenly turned blank, an unrecognisable expression in her eyes. It was almost like flicking a switch, and Rantaro wasn't sure if he just stepped on a landmine or not.

"K-"

"No."

"Huh?"

"I don't have any siblings."

"Oh. Okay."

"..."

They both sat there in awkward silence for the next minute, both refusing to speak for different reasons. Suddenly Rantaro felt strangely guilty, a tight knot forming in his stomach about his seemingly innocent question.

But it answered his question.

'She must have a sister, or just some other sibling then. She wouldn't have reacted that way otherwise.' He watched Kaede down the rest of her tea quietly. 'So I guess the information isn't false then...'

Or maybe it was fake and just a part of the fake memory.

Fake memory...

"All right." Kaede began, getting into her feet and flattening her clothes out. "I promised to meet up with Shuichi in a bit, so I better..."

"Okay then..." And Rantaro couldn't help but smile and, "Be gentle with your boyfriend okay?"

He couldn't see her face, but he could see the tips of her ears turn red from embarrassment. He wanted to laugh when he saw her face when she did turn, which was full of embarrassment. "He's not-

It was fun teasing hormone drived teenagers.

 **Beep!**

 **You obtained a Friendship Fragment!**

 **Kaede Akamatsu fragments, 2/6.**

* * *

"Hey, Rantaro? What were you even doing in the Library?"

He was surprised she didn't even ask that yet.

"Uh, Kokichi wanted to see me. Why do you ask?"

"Well I just saw you at the bookcase trying to open it, so..."

"Yeah, I noticed that it was movable from the scrape marks on the floor. Didn't think that would happen."

"Shuichi noticed it too, he nearly got skewered as well. There's a button that activates the spears but its still operable. I wasn't going to tell you but it seems that its safe to tell you now."

"Why?"

"Cause the Mastermind wouldn't kill themselves on their own traps."

"O-Oh... Guess that makes sense."

* * *

"Hey Monotaro?" Monotaro's head perked up, completely wrapped in Rantaro's new scarf like a snug burrito and clearly enjoying the small head scratches. They were both sitting outside on the benches that was near the destroyed shrine. Curiously the other Monokubs were hanging near the entrance of said shrine with the broken Exisal still there, and were quietly chatting with each other. He guessed they were trying to figure out the best way to clear up the shrine for future trials.

He also wondered why decided to even come out here when it's quite obviously still a kajillion degrees, but everywhere else was occupied and this was the only place so far where he could just sit down peacefully on his own with no one to peak at his work.

 _'IF, we have trials.'_

Picking up his ball point pen, he started to tap a small small rhythm against his small leather bound book, the same book that had appeared in his room which he took after doing the rather, admittedly weak FTE with Kaede. But it was the first one, so he could let it slide.

"Can you remind me about any of the 'special' area's of the academy?"

"Special..?"

"Like, any hidden areas."

Monotaro didn't say anything for a moment, and Rantaro could just hear the fans inside the bear whirr as he was processing his thoughts before the fans got so loud that it sounded like the poor thing was about to explode. It made him curious (and uneasily cautious), he didn't think that the Monokubs would be so... Mechanical?

 _'Was that the word?'_

Was he actually malfunctioning?

The whirring suddenly stopped, and Monotaro threw his hands up in the air in cheer. "Silly father, you're so forgetful now! Don't you remember the secret library passage?"

"Yeah, I know that one, but was there any other passage?"

"Hmm..." The small cub put his paws up to his round chin, thinking. "There was the secret passage to Mommy's room in the girl's restrooms."

"The Motherkuma?"

"Yeah, Mommy!"

"I see." He drew a large, crude Monokuma head with a large 'W' on its forehead with seemingly random dots in an even more seemingly random order. "Anything else?"

"...I think. There was originally supposed to be a passage to somewhere inside the shrine in the trial room? But I think it's gone now."

Rantaro paused his scribbles. "Was there?"

"Mmmhmm! A secret passage to outside! But Monosuke said it can't be accessed, not even by my new strange brother."

 _'That's new. I'm pretty sure that was never there in the game, was it apart of concept arts in the art book or is this new?'_ He drew a rectangle with a spiral in the centre, a stick figure in front with a question mark.

Monotaro suddenly groaned, attempted to hold his head but then remembered he was trapped by the pale orange scarf and instead let out a small whine. "My head hurts, father can I have a hug?"

A smile couldn't help but form on his lips. He didn't say anything as he lifted the bear up and put him on his lap, making sure he was in a comfortable position before continuing on with his doodles.

But instead of random doodles and gibberish that random on lookers would assume, it was actually a plot that only he could understand, to make sure no one could look into his book and interfere. It comprised of randomly placed English, patterned dots and gibberish, but if you kept looking at the book at different angles someone would be able to decipher it. He had been taking notes of whats happened ever since he arrived and any changes he's noticed.

He had to thank his friend for this technique, but he still had to write down a way to decipher it in the future because his memory is cruddy, but that didn't bother him.

And if everything was fine, write it down properly just in case something happened to him so someone can look into his notes to help them out. Then again it was all supposed to be in English, however if everything is in Japanese according to Kokichi and something in his mind was just translating it, then what he's doing now is completely pointless.

'Oh well. Might as well figure this crud out.'

And, well, he was having difficulties trying to piece things together.

 **Note#1:**

 **I woke up yesterday as Rantaro Amami, placed around the beginning of the Killing Game.**

 **Invader destroyed parts of the academy and vandalised everything else, including the Exisals. But it seems like the passage to the Motherkuma room through the girl's bathroom is the same, will inspect later if Miu brings me my order tomorrow.**

 **Will try and figure out the whole motive situation.**

 **People seem to be different, most seem to the same, others have personality tweaks of sort and few seem completely different.**

 **Noticeable** **: Korekiyo Shinguuji, or Kiyo as I'll refer to him, is a lot more shy and quiet that it's pretty much out of character. He sounds more soft and submissive, if that's the right word but did a bit more confident when we first each introduced ourselves. I'll have to keep an eye on him in the future if my plan doesn't work out. His personality may be different but I don't think his 100 friends goal isn't. Maybe.**

 **Himiko Yumeno. It isn't really that noticeable and she seems to be nearly the same, but she seems more distant and more... Unsettling to be near? When her face becomes blank I fall uneasy. Knowing Danganronpa, I'll have to keep an eye on her as well. Still doesn't seem to like Tenko too much.**

 **Tenko Chabashira. She seems pretty much the same, except she's a more respectable to men, or to me at the very least. Whether it's a personality tweak or she just feels the gay solidarity remains to be seen. Regardless, I'm happy to not be tossed around like a rag doll.**

 **Kirumi Toujo. She seems to be exactly the same, except she called Kokichi a gremlin and she's fucking mute. That's all so far.**

 **Angie Yonaga. I haven't really talked to her much to have a proper grasp on her personality, as she's, well, Angie. But her design seems to look like a mixture of her final and concepts mixed into one. Seems to think I'm an Oracle like her?**

 **Kaede Akatmatsu. Seems to be the same, except she has a habit of destruction in the form of her mighty slaps. She doesn't seem to be fond of her sibling/sister? Try and ask her more about that later, but that's solely FTE.**

 **Miu Iruma. She seems like her crude self, but she seems a lot more submissive and timid, I swear that's its just me but Kokichi's noticed it too. May have to keep an eye on her just in case she tries anything. Have also ordered the 'specials' off her, hopefully she gets the first one done at least.**

 **Maki Harukawa. She seems the same, if a little more caring. That's all so far though.**

 **Gonta Gokuhara. Seems the same, thankfully he speaks in proper English or Japanese with the slight exception of 3rd person reference. Thankfully Kokichi shouldn't be as manipulative before considering he knows exactly what happened last time he tried that.**

 **Kokichi Ouma. Looper. Helping me with staying alive, still have to keep an eye on him though, just in case.**

 **Everyone else seems the same. But I will still keep an eye on them.**

He continued to tap, this time he also started to tap the floor in a slightly different rhythm. In each tap of the beat, he sketched out portions of simplistic faces, each one detailing the students, himself included and Monokuma and the cubs. Before continuing her turned the book at a different angle and continued.

 **I also have suspicions about the intruder, and while I don't have solid evidence I think the intruder is was someone who wanted to try and stop Danganronpa from continuing, or wanted to play the game themselves. I'm probably wrong about it, but that's what my gut is telling me. I will still especially have to keep an eye on Tsumugi though.**

 **Hopefully it isn't actually Junko, which doesn't make too much sense as V3 is supposed to be the 'real world', or that part was a lie as well.**

The warm air continued to warm his cold body and Rantaro could already feel a layer of sweat starting to form on his forehead, and too long would defiantly burn his heat frail skin. He also realised that he may need to change his shirt again later, but this time switch it out with the most airy one he had.

...He needed more evidence. He was going to explore a little tomorrow and try and figure out what he could, and if Miu comes through, go ahead and end the Killing Game early.

Closing his book, Rantaro put away both the book and pen and prepared to leave with Monotaro in arm.

"Rantaro."

The deep, sudden voice made him jump, nearly hit his knee on the bench and nearly curse out loud. He turned around to see where the voice was, seeing no one he looked down.

It was Ryoma.

"Ah, Jesus. Hi Ryoma, you nearly gave me a heart attack."

"My apologises."

"It's fine, I didn't die or anything thankfully. Can I help you with anything?"

"G'Morning Rantaro!"

And just like with Ryoma, out of nowhere out came Angie, a big carefree smile on her face that screamed outgoing. Her appearance also made him jump, however this time he did hit his knee on the bench. The pain nearly made him curse, but instead he bit his lip to try and silence it. And for a split second Rantaro could of sworn he saw an amused look on both of Ryoma's and Angie's faces.

Angie circled around Ryoma, bobbing her head up and down slightly like an extremely chirpy bird. ""G'Morning as well Ryoma!"

"It's nearly evening Angie."

"Oh?" She tilted her head. "Nyahaha! Time really does fly here, very interesting. What'cha both up to?."

"Nothing much." Rantaro shrugged. "I'm just doing some doodling and notes. Just to take my mind off things y'know?"

"Oh! Let me see!" Angie hopped over to Rantaro trying to look at the diary, however instead of showing it Rantaro just held the book up high, high above his head to make sure Angie couldn't get it. This caused her to pout. "Rantaro~ It's fine if it looks bad, their just doodles!"

"No."

"Aww..."

"Anyway..." Ryoma began, taking the liquorice sweet out of his mouth and began to balance the dry parts with his fingers. He felt almost mesmerized by how he kept shifting and moving the stick between and over his fingers, not showing any amount of hesitation. "Have you been able to find your code?"

"My cod- Oh, the motive thingie. No, not yet, don't really plan on it either to be honest."

"Because your worried that it may push you?"

"Yeah, I guess that's the best way of putting it."

Ryoma stared at his sweet before tossing it to the side. "I see."

"What about you?" Rantaro asked. "Are you looking for yours?"

The tennis pro nodded. "Yes, however regardless of what's on there, I promise it won't motivate me to kill."

Angie tilted her head, curious, "Are you sure Ryoma~ Didn't ya kill a whole mafia group for a particular reason?" She still had that smile on her face. "If I were to guess, was it for someone you loved?"

"Angie, don't-"

"I don't mean to antagonise, no, no, no! I'm just curious, is all! How do we know that the motive won't push you to the edge? Push you to waste ya life away as a murderer, or possible waste ya life entirely?" The girl walked up closer to him, looking him directly in his eyes. "I don't want anyone to do anything drastic after all, Atua doesn't want anyone to do such horrible deeds and it would be awful of me to allow it. So? Tell us why we shouldn't keep an eye on you?"

Silence. Both Ryoma and Rantaro stared at Angie in startled and surprised shock respectively. Rantaro wasn't really expecting it really, but it made sense now that he thought about it. Back during Chapter 3 she had made that Student Council and pretty much split the fanbase, she was stubborn, extremely antagonistic and so on.

However in reality she was trying to stop everyone's desire to leave and by uniting everyone underneath her and destroying any source that dared to even disturb the peace she had tried to make. Her heart was in the right place, but her methods, not so much, it really only caused more conflict than necessary. She was rather... Yeah, Angie.

He could probably write an essay on these characters and it would mostly be filled with Kokichi. If he could be bothered.

Ryoma stared at the both of them in thought, his almost dead and lifeless eyes felt like it was trying to bore a hole into Rantaro's skin. And then, he sighed. "Heh. Let me tell you both something. If someone you knew threatened people you cared about and your family, or even killed them, how would you react?"

"Oh? That's easy!" Angie smiled cheerily. "I'll make sure that they wished they were never born, after all I can't allow anyone to hurt those who live under Atua's love and grace. I am his Oracle after all."

'...Yeesh. Definitely not gonna get on her bad side any time soon.'

"I'd freak out to be honest." Rantaro admitted. "But, I'd think I would get revenge myself in some way, but probably not by killing. Maybe by blackmail and some other method. But if something happens and it comes to killing, yeah, I don't mind."

'Well, I don't really have to go and do THAT as well. Buuuuut... Eh, guess if I feel like it."

Angie blinked almost in surprise, shooting him a strange look before smiling. "Oh! Blackmail them with evidence that'll destroy them til they can't take it no more?"

"...Yeah, that's the most extreme way of putting it I guess."

"Not many people know about why I was sent to jail, or why I killed that mafia group in the first place." Ryoma continued and pushed his hat down, creating a shadowy effect over is eyes. "However, Angie is right, I killed them because they killed my family, the people I loved dearly due to an incident which was entirely my fault. And the reason why the video won't effect me is because there is no one left close to me."

'...'

"And during my jail time, when the days turned into months and everyday was the same routine as the last, I had received news. Everyone, my relatives and friends had been killed by an unknown virus, and therefore, destroying my reason for living. I had even tried to take my life-'

Rantaro couldn't help the pained wince.

"But... Something stopped me. I might have gone delirious that night, but a woman's voice stopped me." He looked up at the towering cage. "I... Don't know who it was or where it came from, but it talked to me and it's voice..." A smile. "It made me feel like a child again, listening to my mother's lullaby's back when I had frequent nightmares. Then the voice made me promise that I would never take my life because life is worth living, that I could live for my self and for the future I care about. However, one thing led to another and now we're in this Killing Game. I might as well be the **Ultimate Unlucky Student.** "

A voice stopped him? Weird, but interesting.

'That might be important, or not.'

"So... You may not trust me because of my actions, however I can promise you this." He clenched his hand into a fist. "I would never kill anyone here, as I have no one here to live for, however I won't sacrifice my self because of my promise to live to find something to live for. But, if it comes down to it. I don't mind dying to save everyone here."

"You won't."

Angie and Ryoma looked at Rantaro, who in turn nervously averted his gaze to avoid their eyes. "I mean. I'll make sure it won't come down to it myself, I'll make sure this Killing Game ends prematurely."

"How so?"

"I have a plan of sorts, it's kinda in the works, but I have an idea."

"That's assuring."

"H-Hey. I wish I could tell you more, but I need to make sure nothing happens to disturb the plan. Even if I need to make sure no one knows."

"Because of the Mastermind?"

"Yeah."

"So you won't tell anyone your plan because of your fear of getting killed?"

"Ye- Wait, who said-"

"Do you want to get yourself killed?"

Walking straight from the Academy was Maki Harukawa, looking at the trio with what seemed to be annoyance in her eyes, which seemed more like it was aimed mainly at Rantaro. He also noticed that she had dark bags under her eyes, like she didn't get any sleep last night. Her eyes were also dark and weary and her pupils were more slit like then usual. "You only woke up recently because you had passed out from exhaustion, and from my understanding all you did was throw up a few times. What makes you think that you can help us all escape? You'll just be a burden and cause more harm than good."

"You got any better plans then Maki?" He almost wanted to roll his eyes. "You seem to be certain that I'll fail."

"I don't know, I haven't heard your plan yet. But I can tell you it's not going to work." She narrowed her eyes. "So don't try anything, and I can promise you that it's the better choice."

"Hey Maki?" Angie pipped up. "I'm curious, you said a similar thing to Kaede and Shuichi before. Why are ya so certain? Why are ya so aggressive for the **Ultimate Child Caregiver**?"

A beat.

"I never liked kids," Maki admitted. "But they have always liked me, I have no idea why."

"Oh~ So it's because kids like ya? I thought you were just a tsundere!"

'T-Tsundere..?!'

"...Do you want to die?"

"Snrk."

The choked laughed that Rantaro was desperately trying to hold down escaped, which in turn caused Maki to scowl somewhat and Angie to giggle. Ryoma tried to hide his own smile by turning his head away and pulling his cap down of his eyes, quietly hoping no one saw, which thankfully no one saw (except my audience, hello!). The laughter was starting to make Rantaro's chest feel less heavy, less anxious.

...He could do this, can do this, save everyone.

And as long as nothing unexpected comes up and everything goes to plan, there will be no need to worry.

But the way Maki's red eyes seemed to darken and narrow at him told him otherwise-

Suddenly Maki's left hand twitched, crooked, and out of nowhere Rantaro could of sworn he saw black talon like claws unsheathed themselves from underneath Maki's finger nails, each thin and sharp like the claws of a cat. And it suddenly disappeared, almost as if they were never there, a hallucination caused by the heat.

'..?! The fuck?!'

"Anyway. Has anyone seen Kaito?" Maki asked, suddenly grabbing her left hand as if it was about to detach and launch itself at them with the intent to kill, seemingly unaware of Rantaro's confused and somewhat disturbed stare as she casually changed the conversation. "He asked me to meet up with him, but didn't actually say where."

"Kaito? Last time I checked, he was chasing Kokichi around."

"Again?"

"I think Kaito was in the warehouse." Ryoma muttered. "Said he was going to inspect the smell."

"The smell?"

"Oh yeah." Rantaro remembered the sickingly strong smell. "It smells like rotten egg in there for some reason."

"Rotten-" Her eyes narrowed. "Did someone throw eggs in there?"

"Dunno. The only people I could think of who would do that are the Monokubs but they would be in big trouble if Monokuma found out."

"...Alright, I'll be back later." Maki looked towards the academy with suspicion on her face. "And make sure not to go into the warehouse until I say, alright? Also, Rantaro? Keep an eye on your stomach."

'..?'

"Okay, but why shouldn't we go inside?"

Maki was silent for a few seconds, before sighing and began to walk back to the academy, completely ignoring Rantaro's question and leaving the trio alone. The actions made Angie sigh is disappointment, expected disappointment, but disappointment never the less. "She didn't even answer my question, how rude."

"She does seem a bit distant doesn't she?"

"She's like a taller Ryoma!"

"...Thanks."

'Don't think he appreciated that comment.' Rantaro stared at Maki's retreating form before turning around to stare at the busted shrine in thought. "...I'm going to get going myself."

"Aww, already? But I wanted to see your work!"

"Maybe another time? I need to check out a few places and stuff."

Angie pouted. "Okay, but Atua demands that you talk to Angie soon, okaayy? Otherwise Atua will be upset and won't want to be friends with you anymore."

"I'll... Keep that in mind?"

"I should get going too." Ryoma said. Rantaro was suspecting he'd say more, but instead he just waved at them both and started to head to the academy himself. Before long, all there was left was Rantaro, Angie and Monotaro who was just staring at them with a happy expression on his face.

A soft sigh. "Alright then, see you soon Angie."

"Byeonara!"

* * *

"Machine- stupide, travail!"

After putting Monotaro in his room and thinking about it some more, Rantaro had decided to hang out with some others and do some FTE. But he still wasn't sure who he should hang out with next, so until he figured it out, he had decided to go to the **Student Store** for potential gifts to give to whoever is lucky enough to hang out with.

However, the Monomono Machine wasn't working properly, he inserted a coin into the slot and turned the dial, but one of the balls got jammed in the tube and wouldn't move.

"I swear-"

 _BANG!_

"Here we go!"

 **Click!**

Thankfully for small disasters such as these, violence is always the answer!

The ball slid and fell out of the socket and automatically opened, revealing...

 **New!**

 **Gun of Man's Passion!**

...

"O... Okay, that's fine, sincerely hope I won't be using this though." And thanks to his and Kaede's earlier activities (as well as some extra for destroying an empty classroom) , he had gathered 154 Monocoins, 153 now he's used one. Now he was going to spend all of his Monocoins on this to see what gifts he gets.

And so, he inserted one coin. The machine vibrated slightly, and a ball came out of the slot, revealing...

 **New!**

 **Man's Nut!**

"...That's not even a V3 item!"

This was going to be fun.

* * *

And after wasting all of his coins on the machine and hauling up a bunch of items (some of which shouldn't even be in V3, such as Man's Nut, the Apron Dress and a Coconut), some of which somehow fitted inside of the tiny balls which expanded to full size as soon as they were released, something he wished he knew before he was crushed by that Work Chair of Doom. He then procedded to bury the Man's Nut to where no one could find and missuse it for nefarious plans, cause if that thing set off with him carrying it, well, Tenko would have a higher chance to become a killer than the others.

So after that was all over and done with, Rantaro had started to wander around the academy, pondering on who exactly he should hang out with first. His first thought was Kokichi, but it seemed he was hanging out with Gonta instead.

So he just walked around. Maybe he'd talk to Miu first, get to know her a tad more and check if she's working on 'that'. But there wasn't much point in checking, and judging by the amount of light outside there isn't really much time left if she was still working.

"So next person I see I guess?"

And right now he was just outside Dining Hall. He was thinking about having a snack, like some regular old fruit or something, something to temporarily keep his hunger down.

He went to open the door, but apparently someone was in the middle of doing that themselves, as one of the door handles turned down and the door opened up to reveal Tenko, who had had something that looked like strawberry smoothie smeared on her cheek. Then he noticed a shake attached to a leather belt on her waist.

"Oh, hey Tenko, how are you?"

She flinched, eyes narrowing almost tensing from his presence before she let out a somewhat relieved sigh. "Hello Rantaro, I'm fine. I almost mistook you for one of the other degenerate males here."

"So I'm not..?"

"Hmm... You're one of the better degenerates I've ever met, but you have the absolute worst taste in boyfriends."

"Ah." He's... Still not entirely sure as to why he's one of the best. It seriously can't be because she thinks he and Kokichi are an item, right? "So, what are you up to?"

"Well I was with Himiko to learn about her magic before she disappeared. Poof! In a puff of smoke!" She had a massive smile on her face, waving her hands around frantically. "She's such an amazing magician and she's so cute as well! She's perfect!"

"I- I see. Well I hope it goes well between you two."

"Thank you Rantaro!" She smiled.

"Well, I was just going to get a snack for tonight but if you want do you want to hang out for a bit?"

'I'm going to regret this later.' He liked Tenko, don't get it wrong, but she was just so, so... Eh~? 'Her misandry could be a thing he could so without, even back before all this he always got sickle of her attitude at times.

'Heh. Sickle.'

"Hang out?" Tenko repeated confused. "Oh, that's fine. Himiko said she needed to restore her MP before teaching me anything. So I made myself a protein shake for some exercise and activities later tonight to build up my strength to protect her. But if you try anything involving thrusting or being a degenerate..."

'That was easier than expected.'

"Don't worry, just a chat. No thrusting involved. Also, you have some of your shake on your cheek."

"Ah! How did that get there?!"

* * *

"..?! Himiko-"

"Shhhhh..."

He had went to grab some extra water and some fruit for the exercise he planned on doing, which a way of hanging out and also a way of seeing how sturdy his new body was. And everything was fine until he opened the freezer for ice cubes.

Because Himiko was properly squashed inside, freezing her brains off but refusing to get out.

He almost screamed because he thought she was a corpse. But she somehow just stuffed herself in the freezer.

"Nyehh. If Tenko finds me, she's gonna follow me around again..."

"So you hid yourself in the freezer?"

"It was this or the trash." Himiko shuddered, and it wasn't just from the cold. "I think she has a pee fetish... She keeps making weird faces at me and drooling. And I'm out of MP to repel her."

"Ah."

Poor thing.

"Umm... Tenko's coming outside with me right now, so if you wait for a few minutes you can leave."

"Nyeh! My saviour! I am in you're debt!"

"Alright. Good luck Himiko."

* * *

 _'Me and Tenko went outside for a while, chatting and doing some basic excising until the sun began to set. Somehow she didn't toss me around like a rag doll. But we did grow a little closer today.'_

Now both Rantaro and Tenko were sitting outside on the grass, relaxing their aching muscles (though it was more of Rantaro's muscles if anything) and enjoying the breeze from some sort of AC machine that was fixed. Rantaro was shirtless and once again drenched in sweat no thanks to the exercise and heat.

"Oh, is this-"

"I got some Workout Clothes from the Monomono Machine and figured you'd like them."

"Thank you, but an amazing gift like this, from a male?! I. I think I lost something here! Then again you are gay, so I guess..." She suddenly looked conflicted. "Huh."

"...Kay?"

' _She liked it, that's one of her best gifts after all. But the whole boyfriend thing is going to become a running theme isn't it?'_

"So, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"

Tenko hummed, losing her conflicted look and began tapping her chin with a finger in thought before slamming her fist into an open palm. "My name is Tenko Chabashira! I'm a Hero of Justice and a master at Neo-Akido, which is a special form of martial arts me and my master had developed which turned me into the **Ultimate Akido Master**!"

'Okay, stuff everyone knows so far.'

"I also love girls!"

'No shit honey.'

"And I hope that Neo-Akido becomes a national sport one day so I can show the world how amazing it is!"

'Uh-Huh.'

"And that's it!"

'Eh..?'

"Okay, want to go a little deeper on one of those topics?" He asked before taking a sip of water from the bottle Tenko gave him previously. "It was kinda bare bones..."

"Bare bones?" Tenko quietly repeated. "Oh! My master is a Buddhist monk who took me in because of the energy I had building up because I was younger that caused me to go into anger tantrums and destroy parts of my parents house. My parents didn't want to see me for weeks!"

"Oh. W-Well, that's a bit better I suppose." It sounded like she recited the part about the tantrums. "How is your relationship with your parents now?"

"It's great- Well, I love my father, but as far as I'm concerned my mother is dead to me."

"...Huh." Rantaro stared at her like she just said something completely out of character, which she totally did out of nowhere.

'That's fairly interesting. First time she's shown proper hatred to any of the girls.'

"Any particular reason why?"

"And why should I tell you?" Tenko had one of 'those' faces on. "I don't see why I should explain my past like that to you you degenerate."

'So she'll tell me later in her FTE, got it.'

"I mean." She continued, uncapping her water to take a sip. "You're a good degenerate, but still a degenerate, so I have to keep my guard up no matter what."

"Fair, that's fair." Rantaro had to think, if he had kept his old, female body with him; talking to Tenko would be a lot more easier. Maybe she would of let him touch her abs if that was the case, cause hot damn real life does not censor the pure fucking muscle she has on that body unlike the game.

Rantaro wasn't a sexual or that much of a romantic person at all, but hot damn (again) that doesn't stop him from admiring the abs. And the _thighs-_

A while ago, a wise friend of his once said:

 _ **"Tenko could crush my head between her legs like a grape and I would thank her for it."**_

Didn't blame her in the slightest.

"So. What do you think about Himiko? She cute?"

When she heard that and saw the almost shit eating grin on his face, she immediately spat out the drink on his face, gagging while Rantaro flinched and began to swipe the water off his face.

"Cute?! I- I mean... Yeah! She's really cute! And she's so amazing as well with her magic and cute lips and the cute face she makes when she pouts and-"

'Oh dear. I think I started something.'

"You really love girls huh?"

"I do, they're all so gorgeous! Girls are just, so amazing they make my heart constantly skip beats. They all deserve the best and no degenerate male should ever put their filthy hands on them. One of the girls I met back during my Neo-Akido training was a girl from Thailand and she was beautiful, a gorgeous gem in gravel! A single star in the pitch black sky!"

"That-"

"She had freckles! And really pretty brown eyes!" She continued. Seemingly not hearing Rantaro. "She had a really soft voice and could sing really pretty songs, she sounded like a siren!"

"She sounds great."

"She is!"

Suddenly her previously excited and joyful expression died down, replaced by one of sadness and guilt. "But... One day she left and never came back."

"O-Oh."

The conversation turned suddenly dead, Tenko's previous energy died and was replaced with silence. It was a sudden silence that made him shifty, nervous. What was he supposed to say in situations like this? Should he ask? Should he say anything?

"I-" Tenko stood up, her hair covering her face so he couldn't see her expression. "I need to leave-"

"T-Tenko?!"

Without another word she dashed, running further away until she turned and headed to the dormitory, leaving her shake and jacket behind.

...

"...Was... Was she crying?"

 **Beep!**

 **You obtained a Friendship Fragment!**

 **Tenko Chabashira fragments, 2/6.**

* * *

With nothing else to do, Rantaro decided to retreat to his dorm room early. Thankfully no one decided to ask for his attention and time so he went into his room undisturbed and in peace.

And overcome with physical and mental exhaustion, he took off his clothes and threw them in random directions across the room and hit the bed and immediately fell asleep.

Monotaro stared at him from his desk, almost confused before smiling and falling asleep himself.

* * *

 **Monokuma Theatre!**

 **Does society suck?**

 **All those long hours of minimum pay, working a low end jobs with no satisfaction.**

 **Of course, it really depends on the society you live in of course, but most of them are the same to be honest.**

 **Living as a worker, or even a student in Japan sucks, low times of socialising, humiliation of not getting a high enough grade, desperate to not be a disappointment in your families eyes and bowing to their every whim.**

 **Everyone is so polite because you have to be right? It's looked down upon otherwise right?**

 **It's so suffocating to the point where Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world.**

 **And in other places, life just sucks. You could have some of the highest degrees, which a long time ago could support a family of five with no difficulty and have a good house and enough money to have fun after gaining basic human needs.**

 **Now you could have those degrees and be forced to work at McDonald's for a decade, no offence to McDonald's, being payed the absolute minimum to pay for the barest of bills and just have enough to pay for food. And people higher up complain about young people, how their lazy and wasteful and spend all their time on phones, almost unaware they did the same thing with their newspapers a long time ago.**

 **Of course they'd think that, they probably don't even know how the rules changed or they're just spiteful.**

 **I could go on for much longer, but I'd be going over time wouldn't I?**

 **Puhuhuhu~**

* * *

 _His mouth was warm and wet._

 _There was something soft and smooth in his mouth._

 _Clean._

 _Long._

 _Red._

 _Like a sheet of meat, more like a bit of thigh- No, definitely fillet._

 _It made his mouth water like a waterfall.  
_

 _He was craving meat._

* * *

 **"Rise and shine Ursine!"**

The voices of the 4 Monokubs broke him out of his strange dream, his eyes immediately greeting the ceiling above.

"THIS-IS-AN-OFFICIAL-ANNOUNCEMENT-FROM-THE-ULTIMATE-ACADEMY!"

"Zzzzz...Zzzzzz..."

"Ah, is Monokid still asleep?"

"It's 8AM youse bastards! Time to accept the reality and kill!"

"Geez, Monokid had a lot of honey. He's sleeping like a log."

"Oh well. Anyway, Father has a special announcement for ya'll today, so please would everyone meet up in the Dining Hall?"

"Zzzz... Fuckin' machines. Taking our jobs... Zzzzz..."

"..."

"Oh dear, Monodam looks annoyed."

"This won't end well."

 **"So long, Bear-well!"**

The monitor turned off, leaving nothing but near silence, which was quickly interrupted by the soft gasps of air and the sound of the blankets being casually kicked off the bed and falling onto the floor. Lifting his arm he wiped a faint trace of sweat from his brow and eye lids before letting it collapse onto the bed.

"What was that about..?"

He was supposed to piss around a bit with the make up and clothes this morning but thanks to Monokuma... Oh well. He could do that later if he had the time or tomorrow instead.

The room was quiet. He wanted to get up, but his body remained still on the bed.

Tired.

He felt mentally exhausted.

...

...But that dream.

It made him hungry, craving for food. Meat in particular, maybe it was pork, veal perhaps? But it was a tad early for something proper meaty, maybe he could make a pie for later? Then again it depended on what ingredients were in the fridge and he hadn't really checked for anything no more bigger than an apple or some small milk cartons... An Himiko.

Oh well. As long as he got a protein fill for the day he'd live.

Rantaro began to stretch his limbs, picking at his teeth before sighing. "Alright, get washed and dressed. Listen to Monokuma be Monokuma and-"

 **Ding dong! Ding Dong!**

"-See who's at the door, hold on!"

Without much thought, his mind still foggy and eyes filled with sleep, Rantaro stretched his legs before they clicked, the noise muffled in his ears. He got up from his bed, nearly falling over multiple times before he got to the door and opened it.

It was plain old Tsumugi, and the meer sight made his heart freeze.

But the sight of her face suddenly turning redder than a tomato out of nowhere made him especially confused. Why was she-

"Y-You sleep nude?!"

'...Oh.'

He looked down. Definitely nude. Whoops.

A weak groan escaped his lips. "Sorry, was still asleep when I heard you ring. Whats up?"

"W-Well!" She coughed, hiding her face behind her hands. "You didn't, c- come out of your room, room yet-" Rantaro put his own hand over hers when he noticed the cracks widening because of her trying to sneak an extra peek. "So I wanted to m...m. Make sure you're fine!"

He groaned, again. "Yeah, sorry give me a second to get changed yeah?"

"OKAY!"

And she closed the door right in front of his face gaining no reaction to the tired Rantaro, just before he heard some snickering coming from behind Tsumugi. It was, without a doubt, Kokichi.

He would deal with their shenanigans later, however he needed to get changed first, maybe take a ten second shower for his hair if he could.

"Father?"

Monotaro spoke up quietly, who had apparently been sitting on his desk and fiddling about with the equipment. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine." He smiled at the young cub quite sweetly. "Can you do me a favour and stay in my room until I come back?"

"Er, sure thing father!"

...Despite being a mechanical bear, he could see the love and adoration in his eyes.

Tired.

So, with firm slaps to his cheeks to wake him up some more, he immediately headed to his shower.

* * *

"So, anyone know why Monokuma asked us to come here today? Or is everyone clueless as well?"

It was around 8:15 AM, and everyone had gathered into the Dining Hall. Most were sitting at the table, however some had merely stood at the sides such as Korekiyo and Maki and Kirumi had went into the kitchen, mostly to acquire some food for breakfast. Miu was pushing her hands onto Kiibo's metal plating, as if feeling to see what ticked and what did what.

Thankfully when she neared the buttons on his torso, he immediately turned his body away and covered them up using his arms, thankfully sparing them all from a potentially explosive end.

Tsumugi was sitting at a table like everyone else, but her hands were covering the entirety of her face, trying to avoid eye contact with Rantaro as he came into the Dining Hall. People like Shuichi and Maki noticed, but didn't say thing and only pulled strange faces.

And Kokichi was chatting with Gonta, snickering. Most likely playing jokes and the like with him.

It kinda surprised him, he kinda expected that Kokichi would avoid Gonta due to the chapter 4 shenanigans that had happened. Guess not.

'...Gonta was so great.'

"I'm guessing it has to do with yesterday's motive." Kaede guessed. "Speaking of... Did anyone find their code?"

A chorus of 'no's' confirmed her question.

"Okay then... Did anyone find something that could help us escape?" Rantaro asked.

Another chorus of 'no's', this time followed by some irritated groans.

"...We did find something."

Maki spoke up suddenly, which made Rantaro raise a brow. "There's something strange in the Warehouse, a gas leak. I don't know where its coming from, but it's heavy so I strongly suggest no one to go in there."

"A gas leak?" Shuichi repeated.

Kaito nodded. "Yep. Pretty strong as well. It smells familiar, but I can't tell what type of gas it is."

Rantaro hummed, thinking. The smell was pretty terrible last time he went and he just kinda assumed that something was rotting due to the hydrogen sulphide (only chemical he could remember that smells like rotten egg) that comes from decomposing bodies and left it at that. But, he was pretty sure that if there was a body of sorts in there Monokuma would of disposed of it by now. Plus, if it was a body, he would notice all of the other nasty smells caused by the chemicals released by decomposing such as cadaverine (smells like rotting meat), and skatole (has a strong feces odour). And trust him, he knew what a corpse smelt like.

So if there wasn't a body... It definitely was gas. But the only gas he could think of was-

"I've been in there before, it smells like rotten egg. It's really foul. But if I think about it... It smells kinda like sulphur."

"Wait. Sulphur? Like, the sulphur from volcanoes?"

Multiple eyes fell on him.

"Yeah, but that's the only smell I recognise off the top of my head, which doesn't make sense unless we're near a volcano or Monokuma is using sulphur for something." Rantaro muttered, just loud enough for people to hear. "But why in the warehouse?"

"Well isn't that the question!" A cheerily haunting voice called out. "Why?"

Out of nowhere, Monokuma had popped down from the ceiling, nearly making Rantaro jump as the demonic hell bear bounced off the table and onto the ground with a quiet thud, with 'Mr Monokuma's Extracurricular Lesson' suddenly blaring through the nearby speakers like the stupid things were about to blow.

"M-Monokuma?!"

"Upupupu~ The one and only! Here to bring you guys some amazing news! It's all concerning your situation too so listen up!"

Monokuma jumped back onto the table, stumbling a bit before straightening himself out. "As you all know, yesterday, I, the great Monokuma; and his adorable cubs I suppose... Announced the motive concerning the Kubs Pad, a peculiar device that contains the information on the people considered close to YOU!" He pointed at Kirumi, who just in from the kitchen holding plates of food, as if he was trying to make a speech persuading people to buy his products. "And while some of you have indeed been searching, no one has actually found their codes!"

He slammed his paw into another, his red eye gleaming like crimson blood. "So I'm gonna have to speed things up! And while these extra motives may seem like it's come too quickly, well, yeah, it has. But guess what? I don't care! I'm already in big enough trouble as it is!"

The room went dead cold as soon as he said the next words. Rantaro thought it did anyway, perhaps it was just him.

"Ahem, first motive- Introducing the First Blood Perk!" Monokuma grinned. "This amazing perk is special, because if someone murders another fellow student first, there will be no class trial and the blackened gets away scot-free."

Silence. Then-

"Excuse me?"

"What? You didn't sneeze." The bear laughed at his own joke. "So the very first blackened gets to graduate from this academy, and everyone else lives. Of course, there could be one less student, or two or three." Monokuma paused. "Wait, that's actually a good point. I'll have to add that to the rules later."

"Add what?"

"Well. I was supposed to add this by the last fews game due to some unforeseen complications, and the fact someone pulled it off makes me mighty jealous. But I highly doubt any of you can kill fifteen students within a night."

"Last few games?" Kaede quietly repeated. "There were more...?"

 **"Rise and shine, ursine~"**

And thus, like an over used joke, the four Monokubs popped up from beneath the floor.

"Man, that last bastard was hella rough. I didn't think the fucking **Ultimate Ballerina** could kill so many people!"

"It certainly made the 51st season the quickest killing game, that's for sure. At least we got a lot more cash than usual for 'quickest season reward...'"

"She was so small and pretty as well. Such a shame."

"..."

"So we have a new motive, something extra nice and special as a little reward." Monokuma continued, ignoring the cubs. "Someone better take advantage of this, because this is the nicest motive I plan on giving."

"What- It still encourages us to murder!" Kaede snapped. "And no one here will murder anyone, because we're all going to work together to escape this academy and you're not stopping us!"

"...But what about your families?" Monokuma asked curiously, making some people in the room flinch at the mention of the word family. "I mean, this is a golden opportunity, no? Sure one of you will die, but one gets to escape! And there's no extra rule that forces me to stop you from, let's say, getting help from the outside world? The police? The JSDF? Anyone?

The bear threw his paws into the air. "Besides, it's just murder. Some of the stuff some of you guys have done is much worse from what I've read from you all, like sweet despair some of this stuff is messed up."

...Rantaro was just going to ignore that part.

"Heh." Ryoma looked amused somewhat. "You make it sound easy, but there has to be a catch for something so game breaking, especially for the Mastermind..."

"Yeah! Why ruin your own game?"

"...I don't see particularly see the reasoning behind this motive. Unless you desire to trick us into murder to continue the game?"

The accusations made Monokuma adopt a hurt expression. "How hurtful! I would never trick anyone, especially my wonderful students! I just thought you needed a handicap! And besides, whats the fun in cheating in a game that I, the game master, made? It just takes the fun out of it. But, as I mentioned earlier this isn't the only motive."

"...There was an extra motive?"

'Oh no, he isn't going to-"

"Ahem! I am pleased to announce an additional motive! A time limit is now in effect! If a murder does not occur by nighttime, two days from now-"

Suddenly he drew out his claws, digging them right through the table like it was a mere piece of paper to punctuate the next, dreaded sentence.

"Then every student participating in this Killing Game will die!"

And then the room went silent. Suddenly a thick layer of nausea permeated from Rantaro's chest like a thick, foul odour as the room turned colder than before, perhaps even colder than Cocytus itself, and the atmosphere turned thicker than a block of steel. He couldn't properly see the expressions on people's faces, far too clouded for his brain to process. He was looking at mannequins, blank and empty.

He had to win.

He had to stop this Killing Game, no matter what.

No.

Matter.

What.

And thus, like flicking a switch-

All hell broke loose.

* * *

 **DANGANRONPA MINI-OMAKE!**

 **\\(OwO)\ YAY! /(OwO)/**

"Hello there audience! My name is Rantaro Amami, and this is the first special cooking episode!"

Rantaro Amami had a massive smile on his face as he started to wash his hands with water and soap in front of the sink. "As I have mentioned before in this chapter, one of my talents is cooking! And due to my knowledge of recipes from distant family ties (and the internet) I decided to share some of my wisdom with everyone here! Unfortunately I don't have my cookbooks with me for special recipes or for anything particularly exotic, but I do remember some from the top of my head!"

"So today, I shall be making a special Indian sweet called: Gulab Jamun!"

"Gu- What now?"

"Oh hello Tsumugi! Glad you could make it!"

Tsumugi Shirogane stood to the side of the kitchen, her face red and panting from exhaustion. "You knocked me out and tied me to a chair! I don't even know how you knocked me out."

"Pffft. Such a drama queen. I didn't do shit." He clicked his fingers. "Yo! Monokuma! Keep the camera on the ingredients when I tell you to, kay?"

Monokuma let out an uncharacteristic whimper. "Y, y, y... Y-Yes boss."

"...What did you do to Monokuma?"

"That's a story for another time sweetie, right now, we cook!" He had a massive shit eating grin on his face, made even creepier when his eyes turned fucking hollow. "Now would you help me prep this?"

"You're... Not going to give me much of a choice, huh."

"Nope! Anyway, to everyone watching, this is what you'll need!"

 **Recipe for the Gulab Jamun:**

 **1 cup of milk powder.**

 **6 tbsp of all purpose flour.**

 **1 tsp of ghee or oil.**

 **1 tbsp of ghee or oil for greasing.**

 **2 tbsp of milk (use more when needed)**

 **1 tbsp of curd or yogurt, or 3/4 tbsp of lemon juice.**

 **1 large pinch of baking soda or 1/8 a th tsp**

 **Ghee or oil for frying.**

 **1 tsp of pistachios chopped. (this is optional if you don't like nuts like me)**

"Gulab Jamun are little Indian sweets, and oh boy they are sweet. Their basically dough balls made from milk powder and sugar and are pretty nice to have if you like sweets. But to make it even sweeter, we also need sugar syrup!"

 **Recipe for the sugar syrup:**

 **1 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar** **.**

 **1 1/2 cup of water.**

 **4 pods of green cardamom or 1 tbsp of cardamom powder.**

 **1 tbsp of rose water.**

"Now, here's the basics of making this delicious sweet ball. First, we need to prep the sugar syrup. And to do that, we need to follow this-"

"No offence, but this recipe makes the food look like a one way trip to diabetes land."

"Yep! If you're an idiot and eat this stuff every day for every meal. We're not Super Size Me Tsumugi."

"I don't know what that is."

 **1) Mix together the water, sugar and the lightly crushed cardamoms in a pot. You can also use something called organic or turbinado sugar, but will make the colour of the syrup darker.**

 **2) Then boil the syrup until its slightly sticky. Make sure to turn off the stove before it becomes a 1 string consistency. But if it does hit that consistency, make sure to add 2 tbsp of water then mix it together, add the rose water to the mixture then set the syrup aside, but make sure its hot!**

"Now we need to make the balls themselves."

 **1) Mix together the flour, milk powder and soda in a bowl. Either sieve or mix it uniformly.**

 **2) Add the ghee (or its substitute) to it and mix well.**

 **3) In a small bowl, mix together the lemon juice or yogurt and add 2 tbsp of milk. Pour about 3/4 of the mixture into the flour mixture.**

 **4) Now begin to bring the flour together to make the dough. If the dough becomes too dry (so not that sticky), add some milk to it and curd, but do not add too much, only use what is needed. If the dough is sticky add some more flour.**

 **5) This is around where the dough becomes sticky, so grease your fingers with the ghee or oil used for greasing and make them into small balls, and according to the mix it should make about 14 equally small balls. Make sure it the dough isn't soggy and the dough is smooth and has no cracks.**

"At this point, check the temperature of the syrup. It should be hot, if not, heat it up till its hot enough to dip a finger in but not too hot where the heat is intolerable. So please keep that in mind when heating the syrup. Now to properly cook the gulab!

"Ehehe. They look like golden, doughy dango's."

 **1) Pour either ghee or oil into a hot pan, either is fine, but you may prefer to use the ghee than the oil due to re-usability and such. The ghee or oil must be at least medium hot and not too hot otherwise the gulab will brown but won't properly cook inside. To check, make a small test ball and see how fast it floats in the pan, if it rises to the top fast this means the temperature is too high. If the ball rises slowly and doesn't change it's colour too much, this means the temperature is just right.**

 **2) Then when the temperature is right, add some of the balls to the pot, but not all of them to prevent overcrowding, so make sure each ball has enough space between each other. Keep stirring until their fried evenly, if you're using a flat pan, tilt it slightly to give them an even colour. And when they turn golden take them out with a deep fry skimmer or a strainer and drain them well.**

 **3) When drained, put them directly into the syrup. Make sure the syrup is still hot. It's important that there's no oil dripping from them at this point.**

 **4) Take out the balls and let them rest, serve after 3 hours. If you like, garnish the pistachios to the balls.**

"And that is all! This is the basics of making Gulab jamum. Of course, if the balls aren't that flavourful try experimenting with the portion sizes of the ingredients. Gulab jamum is great for beginner's and if you have the money, time and ingredients, you can make Khoya gulab jamum, which takes much more time and uses khoya to make; which is hard to get depending on where you live."

"Squish- Squish!"

"And that's it for day people. Hope to see you all soon!"

"Can I go home now?"

"No."

* * *

 **Holy heck on a barbecue stick this chapter was a bitch to make.**

 **Basically for the past few months I was having a massive writers block for the longest time, and just couldn't get rid of it. So eventually I got to the 5K+ word count and decided to call it a day.**

 **Then something real fucking interesting happened to my account, and whatever happened deleted ALL of the chapters I was working on including half of my profile. So out of pure spite and rage I basically wrote all of this within about three days. Plus, at the time I was writing this, my Mom got extremely ill when she came back from Egypt and caught some form of viral infection, keeping me up most nights because I was afraid this was gonna kill her.**

 **So I absolutely apologise if there's any mistakes. I plan on fixing earlier chapters when I get to a certain point. And there seems to be a bug when uploading that deletes a paragraph of the chapter I uploaded, which happened to my Oddities of Life. But I can fix that later.**

 **What else. Oh, sorry if the FTE's aren't that great (especially Tenko's) , I planned the later ones for each character, but they mainly start the same as they did in the game with some minor differences. But later FTE's will definitely be more interesting and more longer.**

 **And... That's all I think?**

 **Well. I hope you all have a wonderful day.**

 **Ciao~**


	7. A Minor Dilema

**53 Lies and Counting.**

 _Chapter 7: A Minor Dilema._

 _Begin Recording 321drv111-0_ _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **Rantaro figures out a finalised plan, and continues to relax.**_

 _ **.**_

Panic.

The look on Monokuma's face was one of joy and malice when the room erupted into panic. It was a familiar sight to the bear, one he countless times and one he wishes to see countless times more till he day Danganronpa ends, however it was just as interesting to see how each student reacts to such news.

Fear?

Shock?

Horror?

Would a spirit of survival come from their hearts? Perhaps followed by the drowning sensation of regret and hatred caused by their future actions? Or would they be one of THOSE types? Happy to kill for a selfish reason or perhaps a noble reason that's fuelled by lack of empathy for their fellow man.

He's seen these before, many times over. Many similar but still refreshing to relish in their despair.

Monokuma was, unlike his very first models which were controlled by a Mastermind, an advanced AI, a program that learns from its environment and whatever code that is programmed into its 'brain'. He has learned from the murders and has learned from the skills that each student has used for each of their trials, some of the knowledge saving his and Danganronpa's well being when multiple students attempt escape, some where strikingly similar to the original cast he had fond memories of.

But no matter how many **Ultimate Lucky Student's** lead their classmates and 'end' the Killing Game.

No matter how many **Ultimate Detective's** out wit him and find out their truth.

And no matter how many **Ultimate Hope's** lead away the despair for their hope or future.

None of it mattered.

Cause the survivors always go through the same process in the end.

Sent off to the next game with their memories wiped, sometimes with a new identity and face if the new director is feeling rather adventurous.

Returned to their home with their money if complications come up that make them unable to join the next game. The trauma and horrors encourage them to sue Danganronpa, but can't thanks to the contracts they had willingly signed.

(And let's be honest. The world loves Danganronpa because it's only thing left that properly excites them anymore, if they didn't it would have been closed down the moment it turned into a snuff series. Plus in some area's overpopulation is a massive problem, so its a win win for the show and the people, even if the student's don't consent.)

Have a much more worse fate. Apparently that memory conversion process is getting a tad popular with the underground market, as fucked up as it it.

So as long as nothing was breaking any rules or threatened the well being of Team Danganronpa he was fine with it.

However, with the intruder making a muck, and with some very important equipment being damaged and infected, things were suddenly far more complicated than it should be.

If he wasn't bound by the law of Danganronpa, he would of ended this Killing Game the moment he found out the truth and evacuated everyone until everything was sorted. Sure, if things went back to normal then the only things he needed to worry about was that the second memory wipe was going to be time consuming and the beginning repetitive.

However this wasn't normal.

And without the permission and clearance from Team Danganronpa he could not simply stop the game. Without their help, everyone was stuck here, him included.

And so, the only option available was to continue.

And continue he shall.

He was Monokuma after all, and a Danganronpa without him is like a murder mystery without any murder; people begin to wonder why they bothered in the first place. And then he had those pesky cubs he had to deal with. Especially that traitorous Monotaro, how dare he!

All because of that student, that a̲͙̞ņ̵͓̗͓̞̞͈̠̟̕o̱͕̠͚̳̬͘͝m͕͔a̪͇̩ͅͅḽ̩́͘y̷̨̰̣̞͡.̛̞̩̼̣͔̠.̶̮̤̖̬̩̤̦.̴͚͙͔̟̬̦

...

If he could, he would kill Rantaro where he stood. Maybe if he-

* * *

"T-Time limit?"

That was the point, the factor that would properly set off the Killing Game. Unless he stopped the Killing Game, he and everyone else would die or be subjected to this murderous game.

'But isn't this a day early?' Or could he not remember properly? He could of sworn the motive was supposed to be in effect tomorrow instead.

This broke Ryoma into a faint sweat, clearly not expecting the extra motive. "What? Everyone will die?"

"What? That's not fair!"

"Geez, why'd you guys even come to this school if you're not gonna do the Killing Game?" Monokuma asked, almost pouting somewhat. Some murmurs of agreement came from the Monokubs, which were immediately silenced by the strong gaze of Monokuma.

"You're the one who forced us to come here!" Kaito snapped.

"No I didn't. I'm merely doing my job, so don't blame me for something I didn't do."

"Wait a minute." Rantaro muttered. "How exactly are you going to go about killing us? I know you have the Spears of Gungnir, but I highly doubt you have enough to kill us all at once."

It was actually a rather stupid question. From that rather frightening experience he had in the library the spears had to be everywhere at once, or at the very least he had the spears planted at very specific parts of the academy. While he no longer had the Exisals, he still must of had the Motherkuma pumping out spare Monokumas.

...He should probably think his questions through next time.

"Oh? With the army of flesh tearing Monokuma's of course! All created from the rumoured Monokuma-making machine!" Monokuma responded like it was the most obvious thing on the planet. "So unless you want to end up as pink smears, you might wanna take this game seriously!"

'Yep. Expected as much.'

"Umm... Daddy?"

Monophanie spoke up nervously. "But we can't, remember? The-"

"Hush now Monophanie!" The black and white bear hissed. "Urgh! I swear you're worse than my late son Monotaro. Always forgetful and oh so annoying. Unless you want to end up like said late brother, I suggest you be quiet!"

"Bu- But daddy-"

"Monophanie." Monosuke hissed. The money obsessed bear grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her closer, whispering something into her ear in a quiet but hushed tone and urged Monodam and Monokid to come closer as well. Whatever it was Rantaro couldn't make it out.

"-Got it?"

"...Are you sure?"

"WE-ARE-POSITIVE."

"What about Monotaro though?"

"Pfft! Fucker'll be fine."

"Oh?" Monokuma looked curious. "What are my wonderful cubs talking about?"

Monosuke pulled away from the group, pushing his glasses up his snout somewhat nervously. "Nothing pops. We're just goin to talk about something later. I was just reminding Monophanie about a special somethin' we have planned, just for you.'

"Yep!" Monophanie put on a cheery exterior. "A special gift for all of the love you gave us ever since you brought us into this world."

"A thank you gift? Why, thank you!" Monokuma had a similarly cheery smile on his face. "What is it?"

"IT-ISN'T-DONE-YET. BUT-IT-SHOULD-BE-DONE-SOON."

Rantaro was... Kinda surprised that Monodam was talking this much. He was a tad more talkative than before, huh.

"Ah shucks. My cubs are so adorable, you guys are my number one bunch of kids in the whole world and me and your mother are proud to have brought such wonderful beings into the world. And no matter what happens, I'll always be thinking of you all. Puhuhuhu~"

"Y-Yeah."

"Of course, I also have to keep each one of your futures in mind. Just promise me when you all grow up and I kick you out into this cruel and wild world that you'll help ruin your kids futures? I can't really do that to you right now so..."

"Of course daddy... We'll keep that in mind."

"...WE-SHOULD-LEAVE-FOR-THE-PRESENT."

"Damn straight."

 **"So long, Bear well!-**

And like before, each of the four cubs disappeared under the floorboards.

"Aww, how precious of my cubs." Monokuma chuckled. "Everyone one here should take notes on child rearing in the future, after all the cycle of kindness and loving abuse cannot continue if you ruin the children of your kids, instead encourage them to abuse theirs when they're older! Then you can take in your handiwork and-"

Rantaro was pretty sure everyone was fed up with Monokuma's speech, he could feel the annoyance coming from everyone in the room (and Maki looked like she was about to murder someone) and was about to say something before Kaede snapped a bit, "Th-That's enough!"

"...And hope that your kids don't happen to be friends with a green haired child with access to weapons of adorable destruction." Monokuma finished. "Why are you all still here? Shouldn't you get to the killing already?"

"We never left! And no matter what I will not kill anyone!"

"'I'?" The bear looked amused. "What about everyone else? Do they share the same sentiments as you do?"

"Why are you doing this?!" Kiibo yelled. "How much suffering do you want to put us through?!"

"Until the killing starts. Then the trial will begin and the suffering will begin again. Of course, no one will suffer anymore if you all pick wrong. Puhuhuhu~ One will go free and the rest will have an eternity of peace... Probably."

"You bastard!"

"Don't you realise that working together is pointless?" He questioned. "So just knock it off already. You know what you gotta do, don't you? You're surrounded by strangers, neither allies or friends. No need to worry about them. And like I said, you all have the First Blood Perk, so if someone kills, they automatically graduate! And one of you can use it to get help from the outside, but I don't recommend it, no one in the outside world will help you in the slightest."

"..." Kirumi looked at Monokuma with some of the scariest eyes Rantaro seen in his life before she put the plates of food down onto the table and turned then quickly headed back into the kitchen.

'Holy shit the look in Kirumi's face. That's some Higurashi levels of facial expression right there.'

"Well... What you guys decide next is all up to you. Do whatever you want. You can die working together or you can survive all on your own. It's your call. Puhuhuhu~ Cling onto that hope, it'll make it much more worse in the future!"

And with that final note, he swiftly left through the floor boards, leaving everyone in silence.

'...He didn't explain the sulphur, god dammit.'

For the next few seconds it remained that way, and the silence allowed his mind to wander off to relating and distant thoughts. Just like before in chapter 1, there was the First Blood Perk, however Monokuma had added a different motive to edge everyone on, the same motive that was used in chapter 2 with some minor differences due to the intruder. And of course the two day time limit was added as well.

'...So according to Monotaro the passage way in the girls bathroom is still there, along with the Motherkuma. If nothing else comes up during me and Kokichi's exploration and if Miu comes through to me today, I should be able to end the Killing Game relatively soon, tomorrow at the most.'

Then there was also the strange notes.

'The one we have now... We can't do because the silver needle is in 'a room of a mage', I can't remember any songs related to Cinderella (and I wasn't sure about the original rendition) and I have no idea what this beast the note is referring to is. Twisting the needle then singing a song of ancient twins...'

It didn't matter anyway, the needle was in Himiko's Lab and wouldn't available until the second chapter and everyone would of escaped by then if everything goes well, if everything didn't go well he would most likely be dead and-

'Don't think about it right now Rantaro. Just persevere through the day and everything will be fine.'

...If the plan was going to go well, he needed to tell Kokichi. Put his trust in him since he was a looper, since he would believe him. But then again the real Rantaro Amami wouldn't actually know about the Motherkuma, that was his old self's knowledge. Maybe if he told Kokichi he suspected about the Motherkuma in the first place...

Was that technically lying? He didn't think so.

Alright. He had an idea on how to approach this.

"-I'm... Gonna start thinking of one right now!"

Kaito's loud voice snapped him from his thoughts and daydreams, bringing him back to his unforgiving reality and suddenly finding himself back in the Dining Hall. Did he skip part of the conversation?

"Figures. I didn't expect anything from you in the first place."

Apparently he did. Ops.

And apparently Kaito did not like that, as a scowl appeared on his face as soon as Maki finished her sentence. He didn't say anything, but it was quite clear that he wasn't too pleased. Maki had noticed this, and barely frowned, confused.

"Well..." Kaede began. "We could go through the tunnel again-"

 **"NO!"**

Welp. That answered that question then. Guess the tunnel really was horrifying then.

Gonta spoke up, his words a little more determined than usual as if he was mentally preparing himself. "W-We gotta fight back then!"

"Y-Yeah!" Tenko was quick to agree. "If we strike Monokuma with some sneak attacks, we might have a chance at winning!"

"What kind of Akido moves even involve sneak attacks..?"

"Actually... I think Tenko might be onto something."

Almost everyone in the room turned their attention to Shuichi, who seemed to suddenly shrink from the intense gaze of the hopeful eyes that tried to stare into his body, and God forbid those who tried to stare directly into his eyes.

He couldn't return those stares. He never could.

So he adjusted the cap on his head to that it covered his eyes, hopefully averting their eyes and hopefully some of them would take a hint.

"With the Exisals down the defences of the academy and Monokuma have decreased." The detective began to explain. "The only thing we know that's currently defending him is the Spears of Gungnir, however the spears themselves aren't the perfect defence."

"How so?" Tsumugi asked, curious for most likely the wrong reasons.

Shuichi hesitated. But after Kaede gave him a reassuring nod, he continued.

"Well... From what we've seen the spears have a windup time correct? Monokuma says an incantation first then when its done the spears are summoned."

"Huh?" Miu looked a tad irritated, for whatever reason. "That sounds like utter crap Pooichi, it's more like the spears are triggered by voice recognition and certain phrases that's been programmed into it. That's how those type of things typically work, I've made similar things before so I would know."

Ryoma spoke up. "What about the placement of the spears? Unless the spears automatically follow Monokuma in some manner, we have no idea where the weapons are positioned."

And unless Team Danganronpa had made some overly complicated machinery underneath the academy, that was highly unlikely.

...Actually now that he thought about it, isn't is a little weird how the spears are activated in the places they are needed to be?

"About that..." Rantaro began. "I did notice that there are spears in the Library, so I'm pretty sure that confirms that there are multiple sets of spears in the academy at the very least."

'And some might be broken. If the intruder had broken most of the equipment, they most likely broke some of the spears as well.'

"There were? How did you figure it out?"

"...Well, I saw something that grabbed interest before my finger hit a button, I was nearly skewered a few seconds later but thankfully Kaede save my life just before I was nearly killed."

"Oh yeah. Those spears..." Kaede chuckled nervously. "I nearly got caught by them as well, when me and Shuichi were exploring the Library."

"But didn't you notice Kaede? How it took a few seconds for it to actually activate?" Rantaro questioned. "So maybe certain ones are activated by buttons while others are voice recognition only, and it does seem some do take a small time to activate."

"Exactly." Shuichi nodded, "And the windup seems to only be applied to those around the academy. Isn't that right Kiibo?"

'Oh?'

"That's correct." Kiibo responded, a look of displeasure on his face. "I had also found a set of spears outside of Miu's lab, right in front of a large metal cargo crate."

"Oh yeah! Those fucking things nearly penetrated Kiibo," Miu couldn't help but wink at the joke, much to many a persons displeasure. "There was a large crate outside my lab and its been there since yesterday, of course, me being the curious inventor I am, wanted to see what kinky shit was inside. So Kiibo and Shuichi tried to help me crack this bitch open."

"And did you?"

"Fuck no. Not only were both Kiibo and Shuichi weaker than a soggy noodle, as soon as they stopped Kiibo nearly died!" She started to growl. "I can fix Kiibo pretty easy in my lab and give him some extra features if he wants. Pooichi on the other hand? I swear he's like a fucking twink."

Shuichi just adjusted his hat further down, providing no further comment. Meanwhile Kaede looked ready to snap Miu's fingers, judging by the look on her face as she just started to crack her knuckles.

Miu just squeaked.

'...Ignoring that part, what triggered the spears to activate?'

"While I'm still not entirely sure on how the spears work, we can all agree that Monokuma's seems to be instant, right?" Shuichi asked, grabbing Kaede's arm to make sure she didn't do anything. "Which means we will have to take him down in one blow, or even multiple blows to make sure he doesn't say his incantation. Then again, without proper evidence I can't properly say if the incantation is actually the trigger or if its something else, like the Mastermind having special commands, but I can say if we destroy him quickly-"

"Aren't you all forgetting something?"

They all looked at Maki after her query, interrupting Shuichi's evidence and possible plan. "There's a machine making Monokuma's somewhere in the academy. Even if we were to kill Monokuma before he attacks, another will just replace him to finish the job."

Multiple sighs of disappointment and almost fearful acceptence came from the mouths of multiple students, along with a quiet 'nyehh', however...

"Then we'll destroy the machine!"

Kaito Momoto was not detered.

"Do you have any idea where it is?"

"No, but that's why I'm gonna look!" Kaito had a grin on his face. "If its somewhere in the academy then we'll find it, even if we have to break down the academy to do so."

"I..." Rantaro murmured. "I don't think that's allowed."

"A-According to the Monopad rules, there isn't a rule that states that students can't destroy academy property. However." Korekiyo held up his pad. "If the machine is in areas we are not allowed to go in accordance to the rules, we unfortunately cannot do anything to Monokuma."

'Wait, now that I think about it, if we couldn't damage anything in the academy (so any small items like tubes and wire) it's going to be a lot harder to commit certain murders depending on whats happening, so the Mastermind allows this because of how limiting and boring murders could be. And Monokuma definitely would of stopped Kaede's destructive rampages by now. Adding the fact someone may know how to make explosives to escape themselves, so I guess that's another reason why.'

"Hey, Maki just to let you know, I run by a serious motto!" Kaito cleared his throat. "The impossible is possible! All you gotta do is make it so!"

"Even if the Monokuma machine is in a place we cannot access?" Despite her words, Maki had a faint smile on her face.

'Awww~ That's cute.'

"We are being urged to make a decision, we have no time to be indecisive."

"Nee-heehee! What makes you think that everyone will have the patience for something you can't do?"

Suddenly Kokichi had a massive smile on his face, the volume in his voice higher to grab everyone's attention and some people's ire. "I mean, no offence to you guys but I'd much rather test my limits and creativity with murder rather than getting killed because I put my trust in a bunch of people who can't keep their promises."

"Hey..." Kaito let out a small growl, quite clearly annoyed. "I will find and destroy this machine myself and you can believe me in that."

"Oh I believe you." He lied. "But can you show me the plan first?"

"Like I said I'm-"

"Oh and Kaede?" He flat out just ignored Kaito. "Also no offence, what makes you think that the people here will actually listen to you?" He asked with honesty, and Rantaro couldn't tell if it was a lie or not. "While I can't speak for everyone, we all have people we want to get home too, what makes you think that any of us will listen to you near the end? I mean..."

He paused, for dramatic effect.

"I've seen at least a few people have already found their codes and seen their motive-"

...What is he doing? Monokuma just said-

"And from how some people reacted, I'm guessing they don't have much time to spare.' Kokichi had a frightening grin on his face, his face whiter than the moon. "And let's just say some of us are about to crack."

Kaede looked at him, slightly in concern. She held her arm behind her back, "Hey, does that mean there's someone you have to get back too as well?"

"Oh my Kaede! Did you imply that I have no one close to me outside?!" The liar looked hurt, almost like he was about to cry. "How cruel are you? I- I just wanted to tell you the truth! Not everyone here is too keen to put their trust in others, especially not now- I mean didn't you hear what Monokuma said earlier? About how some of us had apparently done some terrible stuff that's worse than murder?!"

"Why you- Starting up trouble again?" Kaito growled.

"B- But Monokuma had to have been lying about that!" Kaede retorted, uncertainty creeping into her voice like a maggot burying into decaying flesh. "I put my trust into everyone here, if I can't my trust into others then how can we get out of here together?"

"Easy! Find the way out ourselves! It's much easier to put trust into ourselves, because at the very least I know that I am neither a murderer nor am I the Mastermind behind this game." Kokichi clarified, his (fake) hurt gone. "You must understand Kaede, I am a criminal mastermind therefore I cannot trust anyone I don't know. One of you could stab me in the back, one of you might actually be an assassin out to get me for revenge or even to make up for the last time they tried to kill me-"

His eyes briefly fell onto Maki before pulling away.

But she noticed.

Her own eyes narrowed.

But it seemed like someone else noticed too.

"So I'm sorry about not throwing my life out into the open to strangers." He said simply. "Which is why I shall do things my own way."

"...And what about Rantaro?" Korekiyo asked, his eyes had an expression that Rantaro couldn't put his finger on. "Do you trust him?"

The question made him blink, and, for a split second, his eyes temporarily averted themselves. "Of course. He is my dearest after all, why wouldn't I trust him? He's been with me a lot longer than anyone in this room ever had."

"That might be true, however..." The anthropologist narrowed his eyes. "You appear to be lying."

"Huh?"

"There is something in your eyes, something overly familiar that does not bode well for anyone." He paused. "M-Many people throughout their lives develop their sets of skills ranging from being able to steel oneself mentally or developing their ability to lie. I can tell that you are indeed an experienced liar, however it does appear you are suffering from intense stress, stress strong enough to show me that this facade of lies that you shroud yourself in is weakening."

"..."

"While I know that you are lying, I am rather curious to know exactly why you are lying. Do you truly not care for Rantaro?"

The look in his eyes got stronger, strong enough to burn a hole in someones skin if he stared long enough.

That was when he recognised the look, the look Rantaro used to fear when he was younger, much more weaker and afraid.

Irritation and well concealed anger, more bitter if anything and maybe even envious. It reminded him of the typical high school bully girls back when he was younger, irritated at his old non nonchalant attitude and bitter from his abilities as cook that took the attention of the 'hottest guy in school', who turned out to be one of his closest friends in the end.

He almost smiled, for some reason said closest friend just practically dripped the harem protagonist pheromones that grabbed every girl (and occasionally boy) in the vicinity. Then again, he was attractive to everyone's eyes, had a pleasant personality, was quite open and had a strong sense of justice.

'Yeah, justice.'

A recent memory made him frown.

'Cruel, disturbing justice.'

* * *

 _"What- You killed her!"_

 _"She hurt the both of you- I saw that cut!"_

 _"But you didn't have to kill her!"_

 _"She deserved it. She tried to kill you, sell you off if it didn't work. And she could get away with it even if she did get sent to prison because she can just bail herself out with her stupid money! People like her, rich and cruel, deserve this as this is the justice we deserve! You did absolutely nothing to her and she thinks it's her duty to make you suffer for just speaking to me, if she knew the truth about us... Gah! No one cares about people as messed up as us, we're just freaks waiting to die!_ _"_

 _"...I know."_

 _"...Hey, did you buy some of the extra cru-"_

 _"I'll get on it, just tell me when your ready."_

 _"I will, I'll try and figure something out. Forge some evidence, whatever I need to do."_

 _"At least we'll have some extra money by the end of this."_

 _"...I love you guys, you know that right? If anything happened to any of you I don't think I could take it."_

* * *

...He wondered how his friends were doing, were they okay and were they looking for him right now? Their shared flat was going to get dirty more often that was certain. And what about little Demeter, the cutest turkey to ever grace the universe? Would they properly take care of him? Of course they would, they know how to care for turkeys he lectured them himself.

And hopefully Leon wasn't trying to eat him, he absolutely loved turkey meat.

...He missed them.

His name...

...Why couldn't he remember?

He remembered Leon's and the rests, even the adorable turkey, so why...

'...I'll ponder on that some more later.'

But why did he have that look in his eyes? Why did he look so irritated, even envious? Did something happen? Perhaps something was up with Korekiyo and he had an issue with liars? Now he was curious.

Kokichi stared at the anthropologist, his expression near Himiko levels of disturbingly blank. Korekiyo quite obviously noticed this, and shrunk somewhat, nervously looking away and grabbing his arm, his previous anger and irritation gone somewhat.

"...Nee-hee hee!" Kokichi let out a giggle, somehow his laugh was devoid of any proper joy like it usually was, whether it was fake or not. It felt like he just laughed for the sake of laughing, like he was trying to play it off. "So rude! I show affection differently than other people you know? He understands my lies, and he understands why I may not tell the truth at first but he knows it's for a good reason."

Ryoma raised a brow. "A good reason?"

"Yep!" Kokichi's smile looked strained, which was odd to Rantaro because he wasn't exactly expecting Kokichi to look so stressed. "Rantaro understands, right?"

"...Yeah." Rantaro muttered, somewhat absent minded.

Something was off with Kokichi. Did something happen or was he still reeling somewhat from his previous death?

He opened his mouth, about to add something else to his-

Pain.

Suddenly pain.

It was nowhere near as excruciating as it was when they were in gym, however it was strong and sudden enough to make him squeak out a very feminine yelp as he felt a pain that felt almost like vinegar coated needles piercing through his stomach and wiggling about like worms in wet dirt, it made him tingle inside, his muscles and flesh twitching and writhing.

But then, the pain suddenly disappeared, gone almost as fast as it had appeared.

A soft whimper escaped his lips, unable to hold it back. 'Jesus Christ that fucking hurt. Where did that come from?'

"Oh, Rantaro are you okay?"

He winced, he hoped that no one would notice, but that would be impossible considering his rather un-Rantaro yell and that everyone's attention was already on him. Weird that he sounded like a girl though for a second though, was this a case of someones voice cracking like his friend does when he got nervous or just in general?

Huh. Interesting.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Just felt a jolt of pain, is all."

And it was the stomach area as well, just like before.

...What was underneath his belly warmer?

"Was it like before? The same pain that made you pass out in the gym a few days ago?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't as bloody- wasn't as painful as then. I think it might be just some cramps."

"Are you sure?"

He just hummed in agreement, feeling around his stomach-

...

...?

'What on...'

He felt something, underneath his skin. It felt like a lump, more spherical than a regular lump his was used to when a hair follicle got infected, except it was much bigger and it felt more solid; almost like a large marble.

'That... Wasn't there earlier, was it?'

If it was he definitely would of noticed.

...

"Do you guys mind if I leave?" Rantaro asked, his tone almost frightened. Before anyone could even answer he immediately turned and walked out of the room without another word, constantly fiddling with his shirt all the while.

"...The fuck was that about?" Miu hissed. "Does green pubes think he can jerk off in his free time? Get back here!"

"Ah- Miu wait!"

Suddenly Miu got up from her chair and immediately left the dining hall, most likely following after Rantaro.

The room was quiet, no one said a thing trying to understand what had happened. Kaede was about to speak up, to ask what was going on before Kirumi had burst out of the kitchen with a plate of food in hand and ran out of the room like Rantaro and Miu did.

It was silent once more, now mixed with some dumbfounded stares.

Kaede couldn't help but let out a semi annoyed growl. "Okay, does anyone else want to leave?!" The pianist snapped.

"...You guys are such bores." Kokichi grumbled, however a look of hurt was on his face. "I have no plans of dying anytime soon... Especially now I know how terrifying death is." He mumbled the last part to himself, grabbing his wrist tightly.

"What was that?"

"Nee-heehee, it's nothing Kaede~ I have to check on my dearest, good luck getting out of here! I'm rooting for you, and I can assure you that is not a lie!"

Soon, even Kokichi left. Now only 12 of the 16 students resided in the Dining Hall. Korekiyo tensed up, almost deciding if he should follow as well before letting out a rather quiet sigh and began to relax. A faint aroma of cooked food drifted from the kitchen, causing a few hungry stomachs to grumble.

'Not yet... Not yet...'

"Oh... So anyway." Tsumugi began, hoping to pick up conversation once more. "What were you saying Shuichi? About the wind up time?"

Shuichi was silent, almost hesitant to speak...

"...Actually, I think there's else we need to consider as well-"

* * *

"Rantaro Amami, where did you go?"

Kokichi begun to walk through the hallway. The first thing he did since he left was check the Warehouse, not really because he believed that Rantaro had escaped in there but because he was really wanted to see what the hubbub was about concerning the smell before doing anything. So, making sure that no one was around he had opened the door, only to close it immediately afterwards after being hit in the face by a wall of horrid gas which nearly caused him to pass out.

So, leaving that option he decided to look for Rantaro, after checking some extra stuff as well as the places that was accessible.

Other than the notes, nothing else seemed visibly different about the first floor even when he checked around the area's he's not supposed to be in, maybe with the exception of a few missing tiles and portions of the greenery near the toilets was a lot thicker, even had some vines coming from under the doors which disappeared as soon as he went to the other side. The rooms themselves seemed fine.

It was... Strange. Nothing else seemed off except those things.

And that was the problem.

Why were those things in particular different?

There was something suspicious about the toilets. And it bugged him immensely.

Why?

Because of a particular memory that came back to him last night, and he knew full well that it wasn't a dream.

It was what happened to him when he died and found some form of afterlife.

It wasn't heaven, hell or even purgatory.

If hell was a place where the sinners and demons lay to rot for for all eternity-

Then that place was far worse than anything, any hell any mere human could potential create.

* * *

 _Pain._

 _Darkness._

 _Cold._

 _Those were the very first things he had felt once the press began push against his body. If he could, Kokichi would laugh, however since he was very much dead that wasn't possible. Even if everyone found out, they still wouldn't like him._

 _It was so cold._

 _He was the villain. They wouldn't care about him._

 _Why was it so cold?_

 _He hated liars, which made him a hypocrite. And he hates hypocrites._

 _He lied for the truth. They all looked at him and rolled his eyes and ignored him, cause it was Kokichi and he was just a compulsive liar._

 _Their haughty eyes would be full of glee when he told a truth they wanted to hear._

 _However when he told the truth they didn't want, the searing eyes of disgust and repulsion fell on him._

 _Hate. Spite. And the ability to cover their eyes with their hands even when the sounds of screams and lashes ring loudly in their ears._

 _They didn't want to open their eyes even if it meant dying._

 _So he did. And it always hurt._

 _So he did. And it greeted him._

 _Endless darkness beyond the horizon._

 _Stars._

 _Strange spheres._

 _Pain._

 _He wanted to scream._

 _The pain was horrible. Worse than a drunken punch from his horrid father (large and buff, something he once wished he was back when he was alone and afraid), worse than the words of belittlement that slithered out of his mothers mouth (she was pretty, however she was truly bloated and grisly when you opened up her personality), worse than the feeling of worthlessness and knowing that no one in this academy truly cared for him no more. Worse than the fear he felt when he saw the motive video for the first time, his companions and essentially his family beaten and bloodied._

 _The pain was electrifying, it assaulted his mind more than anything, constricting his brain like a boa._

 _It hurts, iT HURTS!_

 _He tried to move his limbs, anything to try and make the pain stop. But every time he tried his muscles were constantly set ablaze as something was pulling each one of his muscles and tendons apart like string cheese, only to continue pulling them apart before twisting and tangling them._

 _Despite the burning of his flesh, his bones and skin felt cold, colder than humanly possible. It hurt so much, it felt like the heat and the cold were creating the electrifying pain that rampaged inside of him._

 _Then it stopped._

 _For a moment Kokichi wanted to cry out in delight, thankful to whatever God was out there._

 _But then it went dark. Impossibly dark, so dark it felt like it completely dulled his senses._

 _Then something grabbed him by his leg, something long and bony._ _Then another, then another, then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another had caressed him before digging in his skin,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another,_ _then another-_

 _"ENOUGH!"_

 _Gone._

 _Just like that._

 _Gone._

 _Gone, they were gone oh thank god they were gone it hurt so much and the hands that dug into his flesh and stroked him like and then the pain continued and the coldness and the darkness and the pain and the pain and the pain please oh gods make it stop he couldn't take another second of this please no more was this hell or some sort of place that was worse than hell please no more he'd much rather just starve to death beaten anything please no more-_

 _"That looks really bad, I'm surprised you're even still mentally stable after that."_

 _Neon Pink, that was the first colour he's seen other than the darkness and the few weak blips of white. It looked... Crystaline_

 _"Listen I don't have much time, so listen to me real carefully, yeah?"_

 _The voice was pleasant, almost like a... Almost..._

 _"Something kinda happened with something kinda important. And thanks to the lack of staff and how everyone is currently busy I have to call for desperate measures and I need you're help with something real important."_

 _Something crackled in the background of silence. Like lightning, and those sweets that pop in his mouth he remembered liking when he was younger._

 _"Oh lordy. Listen, I'll have to tell you more later. Just, whatever you do do NOT die. If there is a bunch of machinery or really anything you don't recognise DON'T touch it unless you want to be contaminated or want a possible early death or just don't want to be entirely human anymore. And keep an eye on anything you DON'T recognise, that's very impor-"_

 _The crackling got louder, almost sounding like static._

 _"Alright, good luck and like I said I'll come back later when possible."_

 _Then everything went white._

 _"Good luck Kokichi Ouma, enjoy your second life in the new world."_

* * *

The notes, the extra greenery...

How was he supposed to explain to Rantaro about this? About the mysterious guest about... That? Would he believe him?

...He had to tell him.

It might of been a fever dream, it might of been just something his currently fragile mental state made up to cope, anything. But he died and came back to life, and not only that he looped like a time traveller, like that movie he watched with D.I.C.E that he couldn't remember. That wasn't normal. It was fucking supernatural. That was the only proper explanation if he could think as clearly as he used to.

And that person who saved him... Had something to do with it.

Did Rantaro see them as well when he died?

Maybe.

But it felt like... He was lying about something.

He noticed something in his tone. At first he thought that Rantaro couldn't remember properly as well, like he did until last night. But he had that hesitant tone in his speech and the look in his eyes of a liar, a very good liar.

So why? Why lie about his 'afterlife?' Unless something had happened that he doesn't to talk about it (he couldn't really blame him to be honest).

Unless... But that-

 **Crash!**

"AAiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

A sudden noise of something heavy breaking followed quickly by a loud scream. It was a frightened cry, coming right from the toilets nearby.

And it wasn't just anyone's screams.

His eyes widened.

"Rantaro!"

* * *

 **DANGANRONPA MINI-OMAKE!**

 **\\(OwO)\ YAY! /(OwO)/**

 **Alternate! Part 1.**

"I think something may be wrong with Mahiru."

A loud series of curses were quickly followed by Sonia's rather blunt statement, as well as another series of yells and the noises of things breaking. It was chaotic in the beach house, and poor Hiyoko looked like she was about to cry.

It was a rather simple morning, all things considered. Kazuichi dragged Hajime out to check out the girls who most had recently come back from swimming, and Hajime being the semi tolerant person he was came along for the ride to avoid the mechanics upset accusations and... Stuff. However when he saw Hiyoko run by sobbing and he went to the Chandler Beach where she came from to see what was going on, then-

 **Ding dong dong ding!**

 **"A body has been discovered. Now then, after a certain amount of time has-"**

Dead. Someone had been killed.

What.

And it was Mahiru Koizumi, her head had been smashed open with a baseball bat. He'd seen it himself, it was gruesome and bloody, even more bloody than Byakuya's.

So, he was about to start the investigation when IT, happened.

A groan, a pained groan.

But it wasn't a groan from anyone in the room, everyone looked extremely confused when another groan was whimpered out, this time a bit stronger.

Then-

"W... What- WHERE THE FUCK AM I?"

Mahiru. Those crude, out of character words came out from a corpse of the recently deceased.

"O' THE FUCK ARE YOU CUNT'S?!"

"AHHHH! IT'S A ZOMBIE!"

"WHO THE FUCK YOU CALLIN' A ZOMBIE YA FUCKIN' SACK OF PINK SHIT?!"

Her eyes now a strong, almost crimson red.

"O' THE FUCK IS ANY OF THIS?!"

It was surreal. She was confirmed dead, so how-

A furious roar came from the house, its door being kicked down by an absolutely pissed Mahiru, her eyes looked like they were almost on fire as she glared at every student who had gathered outside the building.

"You!" She snarled, pointing at Hajime. "Cow tits, what time is it?!"

"Cow... Cow tits?"

"Yeah! I've seen those doujins and fanfics involving you an' you're tits. Ain't really my kink but whateves, now answer the fucking question!

"It's, it's early morning-"

"NO, I MEAN, wait... FUCK! IT'S CHAPTER TWO AIN'T IT?"

And thus began the new life of a screaming zombie Mahiru, louder than Nekomaru and cruder than Fuyuhiko.

* * *

 **Hello my readers, a relatively short chapter today, nothing much happens but this was a good cut off point as I add mysterious and try and sound smart with the 'wind up times' and the stuff like I'm trying to pull off a future plot point but failing miserably. That whole scene with the Dining Hall was difficult because I wanted most people to have decent some decent dialogue and I forgot Kiibo is a character halfway through, oh well.**

 **And we get a tiny amount of history on Fake!Rantaro's past! Scandalous! And maybe he isn't as innocent as previously thought, no?**

 **This omake is actually based on an old concept I had with this fic, where the character is far cruder, said character is Mahiru and it's Danganronpa 2. There are some other concepts I had with this fic, however most are pretty spoilery right now so I won't say anything yet.**

 **Let's see... The next FTE events will happen in the next chapter, and the next few chapters will be slightly smaller. Like I said previously I will do some adjustments to previous chapters to make them make a little more sense at some points.**

 **Also, I said this before but Kokichi is difficult to write early game, if it was regular Kokichi then it wouldn't be as difficult but considering he's a looper with knowledge among other things figuring out the best course of action for him is pretty challenging.**

 **Also!**

 **53 Lies and Counting and The Queen's Handmaiden are now apart of the same series! This was a project I've been thinking on for awhile and now I feel like it's a semi decent time to announce this. Welcome to the Purity series!**

 **And I think that's it right now. I'll check this over tomorrow and fix any nitpicks with any of the words and maybe a detail I might have missed. Updates will be a tad more infrequent from now on due to college which is starting real soon.**

 **Anyway, I hope you all have a good day!**

 **Ciao!**


	8. The Liar, The Pig, And The One Inbetween

**53 Lies and Counting.**

 _Chapter 8: The Liar and the Pig and the one in between. Part 1._

 _Begin Recording 321drv111-0_ _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 ** _A new discovery? Interesting things pop up and Rantaro makes the mistake of hanging out with Miu (and Kokichi!). But then something weird occurs and Rantaro has suspicions._**

 ** _._**

"What on earth..?"

He felt bad, suddenly leaving everyone in the Dining Hall without any explanation. It couldn't have been that serious when he thought about it, maybe he should apologise when he had the chance. Perhaps it was just a lump, hopefully not something deadly or anything too weird.

So, after he left, he went straight into the toilets. He might have even gone into the girl's toilet again but he couldn't even be bothered to check. Oh well.

Anyway... He went into the toilets to check the lump near his navel (and maybe even go for a piss afterwards), it was all fine at first he walked in, quietly noticed how the foliage seemed thicker such as more hanging plants and thick vines than usual in the back and at the closest thing near the entrance, which he definitely needed to check out as soon as he was done before he forgot.

Then he lifted his shirt up and looked into the mirror.

It was... Something.

The lump was large, almost like a marble in shape and thickness, covered in thinning skin which looked close to being peeled off. The skin was thin enough in fact that he could see some faint blue colouration on the portion of thin skin, which usually meant that this something was blue. Or that he was starting to turn into a smurf, something he really didn't want happening to him.

But... What was it? And why blue of all things? Was it a really weird tumour?

'Don't think it's a tumour. Infection maybe?'

He poked it, a small giggle escaping his lips when the strange lump was pushed inside and somehow tickling him as it came back up when he moved his finger away, he did it again, this time pushing it deeper inside and keeping his finger there. He tried his best to suppress his giggles, but it was all for nought as it still tickled him, tugging at his nerves like a curious child plucking strings of a guitar.

So, he stopped and just stared at the lump through the mirror.

It was almost like a ball bobbing up and down on the water each time he pushed it. Like how he would desperately try and pull his beach ball under the sea water as a child to the point it hurt his arms.

'Too thick and big to be a regular lump, definitely not an infected hair follicle, probably not some nasty boil...' He ponders, rolling the lump under his fingers, frowning at how smooth it was compared to the rest of his body. He wasn't a medical expert of any kind, only knowing some information on human anatomy and causes of death, and this wasn't anything he's seen before.

He was stumped, this was quite clearly different.

...

Actually... Now that he thought about it.

He began to feel around his body underneath his clothes.

"...Still cold."

His body was cold, it seemed like it didn't get any warmer or colder, however, it was still around about the same temperature. It was just what Miu and Angie said, he was as cold as a corpse. He used to be pretty cold back in his old body, but most of the time he was pretty hot like a furnace which used to give him excuses to skip school as people always thought he was always sick or just had constant high fevers.

But nope, he was just a good liar. Like that one time in a maths lesson just before he needed to hand in homework he never completed, so he bit his lip to the point it bled, and when he coughed he spat out blood.

And people thought he had holes or something in his lungs or windpipes, so they took him to the hospital to check him out. And guess what? He actually had holes in his windpipe which were at an early stage and wouldn't cause much harm and if he continued his life without going to the hospital he would have died.

So faking an illness/condition to unintentionally cure a future fatal illness/condition saved him. AND he got to skip school for a month.

Take notes kids, you'll skip school for a few weeks at the very least and possibly save your life. Please only do this until the stress is so strong you're starting to grow grey hairs and you're starting to throw up.

'Anyway.'

Why? He was alive, wasn't he?

Strange.

Was he actually a zombie?

No... He definitely would have noticed. Maybe? He certainly wasn't a flesh-eating zombie nor was he one of the infected zombies from shows and movies like 28 Days Later. Or maybe he was but he's just a clueless and dumb zombie.

'Flesh-eating... Heh, that'd be funny.'

Maybe, maybe not. Maybe his body was making him cold to survive the blazing heat outside. He really didn't know.

Evidence, he'd need more evidence. Does he have a heartbeat?

He took in a few deep breaths, counting up to five in the meantime before putting his hand above his heart.

'...

...

...?

...?!

This is..?!'

 **Bzzzzt! Bzzzzzt!**

The sound of a loud and sudden buzz snapped him from his thoughts, startling him back to reality. "What on-"

 **Bzzzzzt! BZZZZZT!**

There it was again. Where...? He couldn't tell where it was coming from, it was so loud.

He stood in place, putting his hands close to his ears to began to listen. At first, it was nothing, then the water from one of the nearby taps started to drip, the sound of the air drifting through the air vents suddenly stood out-

 **Bzzzzzbt! Bzzzbtzzzt!**

'...There!'

The noise was coming from... One of the stall rooms?

'No, wait a second-'

"Ha! Caught you with your pants down, bitch!"

Suddenly an overwhelming sensation overcame his body, his nerves on a high as the sensations made him squeak from surprise. It was a familiar sensation, one Rantaro knew far too well. Something had grabbed his sides.

And brushed against his weak spot.

"Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

* * *

"Rantaro?!"

He wasn't here-

Where was he? Where was he? Where was he?

He just heard him scream somewhere.

Did someone attack him? Kirumi?

No, too early and she shouldn't have found her code yet for her motive video. He knows she hasn't. Miu? Not directly. She only had the guts to attempt to kill him when he was at a disadvantage against her back in the virtual world. He didn't see her take a knife.

So why did Miu follow him? And where on earth did Kirumi run off to?

"N-No! Stop- Stop it!"

Kokichi stopped. Was that Rantaro?

"Oh? Is that your weak spot?"

That was! And Miu too!

"M-Miu! Mercy, MERCY!"

"Wow, I never took you for a tickly bitch, let's see what happens when I do this-"

"NOOOOO!"

It sounded like it was coming from the... Girl's bathroom? What was with Rantaro and the girl's bathroom?

Without thinking, he immediately ran as fast as he could to the girl's bathroom and was just about to push the door open he had stopped. The feeling of nausea began to crawl in his stomach and cold sweat was starting to form on his forehead, his legs felt so heavy it was almost comparable to a wooden board nailed to the floor. He was hesitating. He was hesitating and he didn't know why.

He never felt like this before, not this strongly anyway. Not in the Killing Game.

"Kokichi?" A sweet feminine voice called out like a soft and sweet purr, a voice Kokichi didn't recognize. "He's just beyond this door... Dearest Miu would never have the guts to kill someone without an advantage, she's too meek, cowardly to do such an act, no?"

Kokichi frowned at the unfamiliar voice, his eyes scanning around him looking for the origin of the mystery voice. But no one was there. The voice whispered into his ear with an amused tone, "And if she did... All you have to do is witness the crime and report it. You're too fast for her."

"...Who's there?" He asked cooly.

But no one responded.

It was silent now, even the voices in the toilets were as well, and the hesitation was gone now replaced with determination. He turned pushed the handle down and began to open the door when, before he could open it for just a peek, a loud mechanical noise screeched from the other side of the door followed by the surprised yells of both Miu and Rantaro and the sound of something large and heavy collapsing. It was like a metal door was being moved across the marble floors, its weight pressing against the floor which produced such terrible screeches and causing the floor around them to shake.

 **Bzzzzt! Bzzzzzt!**

The sounds of a muted explosion and electricity were apparent shortly after, almost like the noise a loose wire that came in contact with a body of water. Another explosion, this time much louder than before. Just what on earth was even going on?

He heard Miu cry as well as Rantaro yelling again, but much louder and much more surprised and embarrassed than before. Deciding that enough was enough Kokichi had finally opened the door with a mighty push, something he thought was unnecessary until the door met with resistance when the door opened halfway. After a few more futile pushes, Kokichi squeezed his head through to check what was going on, to see if he need to run.

However, it seemed like he didn't need too.

The ceiling had collapsed. As well as a good section of the wall behind where the toilets where. Debris had covered most of the floors, torn wires hung from the destroyed ceiling and pieces of broken glass from one of the only mirrors that had been caught up in the mess. For a second he couldn't see Miu or Rantaro, fearing they had been crushed and electrocuted by the concrete and wires. However a weakened whimper from Miu caught his attention and despite his distaste for Miu, was happy to know she was alright.

Another whimper caught his attention, this time it was from Rantaro who had risen up from aside a large piece of concrete looking a deer in a light. Underneath him, perhaps slightly to his side, Miu rose up shortly after, with tears in her eyes and her body visibly shaking.

"M-Miu?" Rantaro shook her shoulders gently, trying his best not to upset any potential wounds as he tried to get her attention. Miu didn't respond, instead, she clung onto him and buried her face in his chest in fear, her arms surrounding him crushed him like a vice. Rantaro hissed at the grip and attempted to pry her off. "Miu! That hurts!"

"P-p-please don't leave." Miu whimpered, "I'm so- so scared."

She looked up at him. Rantaro winced when he took a good look at her face, a face filled with fear and barely contained panic. She breathed heavily and rapidly and Rantaro was sure that with how he could feel the rapid heartbeats that Miu was about to have a panic attack, "I-I won't... I won't-"

'She's... Miu's pretty terrified, huh.' He couldn't help but put one arm around her and started to stroke her head in an attempt to calm her down. "It's alright. You're fine, nothing's gonna hurt you now."

Miu breath seemed to calm albeit still heavy. She still clung onto him like a lifeline.

"Rantaro?"

Rantaro's head shot towards Kokichi who had a half amused and half disturbed look on his face, the former most likely from what he was witnessing and the later from the confusion of why the hell half of the toilets blew up. Miu also noticed his presence a few seconds later, however instead of letting go she merely held onto Rantaro even tighter.

"What-" Miu gasped and pointed behind Rantaro near the entrance door, "The fuck happened with- with the closet?"

"The closet?" Rantaro murmured, looking where Miu pointed, whose expression and breathing quickly returned to normal before his pupils widened in what looked like realisation (something that's setting off red flags in Kokichi's head). Kokichi, confused, walked up to them and looked to where Miu was pointing before he began to stare at the supply closet with a dumbfounded look on his face.

The area around the closet had quite obviously been blown up. There were black soot marks covering all of the nearby surfaces and pieces of other stuff that belonged in a toilet. However, the thing that caught their attention the most wasn't the debris or explosion marks, but rather the strange things that crawled out from the closet.

There was an entrance, and coming from that entrance was a sea of roots and vines.

It was the secret entrance to the secret room where the Motherkuma lay, and it was completely covered by plant life.

"What on..."

'What is going on in this academy?' Rantaro questioned himself mentally. The intruders, the gas... Now the secret entrance in the girl's toilets had exploded. Hesitant for only a second Rantaro began to walk towards the destroyed supply closet, ignoring Miu who let out a squeak and pried herself off him. He examined the entrance and stepped on a root as hard as he could before lifting his foot back up. "These are tree roots."

"Tree roots?" Kokichi followed him and examined one of the roots for himself. "Yep. Definitely tree roots. Looks healthy from what I can tell too." He frowned as he tugged on a vine. "Are there any trees under here?"

"...Only one way to find out."

Rantaro pushed and pulled aside a blanket of leaves and vines before he found a mostly untouched staircase and began to head down, much to the displeasure and surprise of both Kokichi and Miu. Kokichi eventually started to follow, leaving Miu behind.

"Hey, fuckers!" Miu hissed at both of their retreating forms before slowly panicking when she realised she was left alone. "What a bunch of useless gays, leaving me all alone and defenceless... Wait for me!" And so she began to follow both of them. "It's dangerous!"

"..."

After a brief moment later, from the entrance door out peeked Kirumi's head, curious of the noise before her face scrunched up to an expression of displeasure which made itself known on her face when she saw the destruction that had made itself known. She had heard strange noises midway through her search to find Rantaro to deliver the rest of the meals so she could move on to her morning cleaning duties when she heard the strangest of noises coming from the girl's bathroom.

But apparently something had exploded, and unless she had help, she was going to have difficulties cleaning this up.

She... Also heard people, one of them was definitely Miu, in here.

...She needed to make sure they were alright and haven't gotten into any trouble.

* * *

"This is rather strange." Rantaro pushed past another wall of thorny vines, letting Kokichi and Miu pass unharmed before continuing.

They had gotten to the bottom of the staircase where the thickest of the plant life had resided. The walls were covered in layers of moss and roots and sharp thorny vines hung from the ceiling. And the air smelled dry, dusty and stagnant, which was a bit strange to Rantaro because he always expected places like these to smell more wet and fresh, with all of the plants and all.

But he could smell mint, an overwhelming amount that almost overstimulated his senses and set him off.

He loved mint, mint ice cream was a favourite of his, but this was far too much!

All three of them were careful with their movements as they traversed the grounds. Partway through the walk, the pathway had become pitch black making walking a much more difficult task until Miu took at a mini flashlight from somewhere, hopefully from one of those weird black straps she wore on top of her clothes, and lit the way forward with a bright white light.

"Were you carrying that flashlight this entire time?"

"Of course I was you tard! I always carry a flashlight on me just in case a power cut happens so I can continue helping the world one invention at a time."

"I see..."

"W-Why are you looking at me all funny like that?"

"It's nothing... I'm just surprised I never noticed it before."

"What, why? Do you usually notice people's junk like that?"

"...If you word that a bit better, yes. I tend to just... Notice things, I guess."

"Oh, I get it! So next time you suck a guy off through some smelly glory hole you'd be able to tell who it is by their dicks?"

"For fuck- Miu. Could you please not make nasty ass jokes like that?"

"Eeeep!"

"I'm sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds," Kokichi interrupted their slowly lewding conversation. "But I think this is as far as we can go."

'Thank god, I thought my brain was gonna jump out of my skull and strangle Miu to death.'

All three of them stopped in their tracks. Miu shone the light in the space in front of her and revealed a massive metal door that resembled a circular vault door if anything else. It looked old judging by the strange marks and scratches etched onto the metal handles, and how the front of the door was caked in dirt and mud and the greenery around them. Rantaro took the flashlight from Miu's hand, much to her displeasure, before walking up to the door to further examine it.

"...There's no handle to turn this, but take a look at this here."

Rantaro motioned towards a small device next to the door. There was a card reader with circular sockets and a strange screen that glowed a quiet and mute green, one that was very similar to the one in the library to the secret room. And just like the one in the library, this one had quite a bit of dust in the slot.

"Just like the one in the library." Kokichi quietly noted. "Did you find anything like a card anywhere?"

"No, I don't think I did," Rantaro responded back. He tapped the green screen with his fingernail, startled when the screen suddenly beeped. This also caused unseen lights on the door to flicker on, creating a light just bright enough to light the area. "Oh?"

On the screen popped up a box with the image of a fingerprint, as well as a wall of text written in English next to it.

 **Please place your finger on the scanner to confirm your identity.**

They both looked at each other, silently hoping that the other would try to see if their's even worked (as well as wondering what the hell the point of the card reader was even was as there was a biometric fingerprint scanner). Miu, who was still behind them, laughed before she pushed in front of them and standing in front of the machine with a glint in her eyes. "Out of the way nerds. Let the great Miu Iruma bypass this primitive piece of shit."

"M-Miu, I don't think you can-"

"Wow! I didn't think Miu was the Mastermind!"

"Fuck off you shit, and observe my genius!"

Miu had pulled out a cube-shaped device which fitted neatly in her palm with a blue button on top from under her skirt, confusing both Rantaro and Kokichi before Miu pressed the blue button causing the device to make a strange beeping noise and began to shift expand. The cube suddenly split into seven parts and shifted into a form that resembled a mechanical spider, the smallest being the main body while the legs with the pointed tips were the largest.

"Look!" Miu shoved Kokichi aside, who was quite displeased and pulled Rantaro in closer, pointing at the mechanical spider as it jumped from her hand and onto the card reader. The spider's main body twitched for a moment as a small panel opened from underneath it and a series of plugs of all different shapes plopped out, almost like the intestines of a creature after getting disembowelled during a savage fight or even an inhumane experiment Rantaro had noted. After tapping against the sockets multiple times, two circular plugs lifted themselves up and inserted itself into the card readers sockets.

"What is this?"

"This, is one of my prized inventions, 'Breaking into that bitch's Samantha's house after she stole your man and cash and revealing all of her secrets onto the internet'."

...He wanted to know the backstory of that name. 'Who the fuck is Samantha?'

"You see..." Miu began. "After I had become a well-known genius throughout the world for the 'Do shit while you sleep' collection of inventions, I decided that I wanted to make some more... Unique stuff. So I made a device that lets me break into high profile security locks."

"That's quite a jump to make."

"I thought it was appropriate." Miu just shrugged. "Of course being the genius that I am, I had to keep such blueprints a secret to prevent what had happened last time."

"Last time?"

"Well-"

 **Beep! Beep!**

 **Error. Unit 'Breaking into that bitch's Samantha's house after she stole your man and cash and revealing all of her secrets onto the internet', is incapable of breaking into this systems security.  
**

The spider beeped out its message in a mechanical and, quite frankly rather sexual, voice before it detached itself from the card reader and fell onto the floor and transformed back into its cube shape.

This, of course, caused Miu to scowl.

"Oh for fu-" She nearly went to slam her foot onto the cube, however, stopping and taking in a deep breath to calm her down. "Well, shit this is a problem. My BSHSMCSI isn't capable of breaking into this level of security."

"So we can't break in?"

"Not yet." Miu shook her head and picked up the machine off the floor. "If I can analyse the data I should be able to create a system that can break into the security-"

"Miu?" Rantaro interrupted with his gaze stuck to the card reader which started to blink a bright yellow from the lights, which was just bright enough to illuminate a small portion of the door. "Are you sure that the security doesn't take records of failed hacking or login attempts or whatever?"

"It shouldn't. This baby can block detection as well as do some sweet hacking. So we shouldn't be caught."

"Yeah, in theory," Kokichi rolled his eyes. "But that light hasn't stopped blinking since your stupid invention detached itself."

"...That is true. However I the great-"

"'Miu Iruma, the **Ultimate Inventor** , would never make such a crappy device.'" Kokichi finished in a mocking voice mimicking a crude impression of Miu. "Yes, but you made just as many useless devices for every day you existed on this planet, so my hopes aren't high."

"H-How dare you?!" The inventor hissed. "I'm helping your asses and this is how you treat me you little twink?! Give me one reason why I should help you now?" Suddenly a glint showed itself in her eyes. "Why don't you bow at my feet? Show me how royalty should be treated and kiss my shoes."

"Ugh, in your dreams cum dumpster."

'Oh no.'

"Y-You-"

"Miu?"

Whatever vile insult that was about to creep out from her mouth had simply disappeared when Rantaro gently grabbed her hand and started to caress it, much to the shock of Miu and surprise of Kokichi. "Please help us. If not for Kokichi, do it for me and everyone else in this academy. Think about it, if you escape this place, you will be the centre of everyone's attention for a long while. 'Miu Iruma, the genius inventor who saved a class from death', 'Miu Iruma, the girl who exposed a criminal organisation.' And everyone. Everyone will love you for what you've done."

"W-Well if-"

Rantaro lifted her hand, carefully kissing the front like a prince towards his princess. It certainly made Miu blush. "Please. Help us escape. We can become friends if you do."

'Even with the gloves, I can taste how sweaty her hands are... Gross.'

"F-friends..." Miu repeated carefully, tasting the words on her lips. She looked at their hands. Miu could feel her face warm up and her heartbeat increase. When was the last time someone made her heart beat like that? When was the last time someone wanted to be friends with her?

Like... Proper friends. Ones that don't use her to get what they want, ones that won't sell her out in the end.

Ones that will be there for her, no matter what?

She didn't believe it, she didn't want to be used again. But there was a sincerity in his eyes, looking at her with a sort of affection.

Should she put her trust in him?

She clenched his hand tightly.

Yes.

"A-Alright then. I'll help." Miu finally relented. The relieved smile of Rantaro made her heart skip a beat. "I'll build something, and finish the rest of 'you know what.'" She whispered the last part to him.

Kokichi narrowed his eyes but said nothing. What was she talking about?

He couldn't help but smile. "Thank you Miu. You've helped a lot already."

"That's not a problem. Just doing my job and inventing..." Miu tugged at his other arm. "Come over to my lab. I'll sort some stuff out."

Rantaro nodded and looked over to Kokichi who stared at the door. "Kokichi? You coming?"

"I'll... Be fine." He nodded, not taking his eyes off the door. "There's something I need to check, I'll be coming over soon."

"Alright, see you in a bit, yeah?"

"Mmmhmm..."

"Come on green pubes. Let's get going already! And why did you think I wanted to bring the purple prick with me? It's just you and me baby!"

"Ahh, I just thought that- Ah, whatever..." He rolled his eyes. "Alright alright, I'm coming."

Kokichi still paid them no mind as his eyes still remained focused on the door, even as the noise of their footsteps and their voices disappeared eventually, leaving him all alone in the flickering lights. It was all silent now.

'Damn it, should of asked for the flashlight.' That was his mistake on his part. Hopefully, the beeping lights should help him with this but it felt like the damn things wre about to explode. 'Rantaro... Sounded like a manipulative asshole. That or a really terrible boyfriend.'

Well, since he's never dated anyone he didn't really have any personal experience. But Rantaro sounded like a manipulative boyfriend with those words. He probably wanted to get Miu to help ASAP and not complain, but the way he said and worded it sound off to him.

'How suspicious.'

With that thought, he rubbed at the mud-covered dirt with his sleeve, knowing he'll have to replace it later. The mud was hard and dry, it was quite clear that the door itself received no form of moisture for quite a long time as the filth stuck to the door stubbornly like trying to use a spoon to rub away wet paint off a wall. He wouldn't be doing this if it meant damaging his clothes, however, the door felt far too strange for him to just ignore, plus, he had noticed long black stripes that resembled letters under the dirt he scraped. The dirt persisted after a minute but he continued to pry what dirt he could even as the loud stridulating of the nearby crickets drilled itself into his ears.

'Wait.' When the sound finally registered in his ears he stopped in his actions.

Crickets.

Why did he hear crickets?

That was when he noticed it, something small moving on a nearby vine, moving it's long hind legs as the cricket continued to make it's ear piercing noise. The sight of the blackish grey cricket made his face cringe in disgust of the sight of the disgusting creature.

But, it was a bug.

A bug.

A fucking bug in a place where there were once no bugs, only in Gonta's lab was their such bugs but nowhere else. And despite the fact that the lab was indeed open due to complications or whatever to the system but no one could actually get in there, there shouldn't even be any bugs cause they should be in those bug containers that Gonta always kept an eye on like an overbearing parent.

"Why are there... Disgusting creatures here?"

It was strange, what was so special about this place? And why exactly did it blow up earlier? And this door just looked flat out suspicious.

Maybe he could find out if there was something on the door.

And so he continued to rub and scrape off the dirt with his sleeves and nails, ignoring how his arms and hands were starting to ache and darken until it started to become unbearable, which was when he switched to the other and continued his job. There was just so much dirt that refused to come off, it was actually starting to get insane.

However, he was able to clean a bit of the dirt off, just enough to reveal the first two words and some extra written in a faded black that Kokichi couldn't properly decipher.

"...What?"

It read, all in bold kanji: **Future Foundation Re.**

"Future Foundation?"

* * *

 **DANGANRONPA MINI-OMAKE!**

 **\\(OwO)\ YAY! /(OwO)/**

"The fact you are ugly is what makes you a failure."

"...What?"

Rantaro and Miu just stared at the robot in front of them, quite obviously dumbfound. The trio wanted to walk around for a bit, just a casual chat and see how long Rantaro could handle the sheer lewdity of Miu's whole entire being. And Kiibo was just... There. Just tagging behind Miu like a small, overly attached puppy.

And then... Kiibo shut down.

When he suddenly silenced himself and shutdown mid-conversation, both were understandably worried. When he came back on they were both relieved.

However...

"What the fuck Kiibo?! How am I, the great Miu Iruma, be ugly?!"

"Truth is a flickering candle in denial."

Kiibo smiled with childlike joy in his eyes, almost seemingly unaware of the words coming out of his mouth. "Erotic possibly rots erotically. The stupidity of the human race is the future. Why not break down?"

"Hey, Kiibo? Are you feeling alright?"

"Be the reason someone gets diarrhoea today!"

"...Is he... Shit posting?"

"I think he is."

"Heeeeeey!"

Kokichi Ouma came by, perched on top of Gonta's shoulders like a small king with a grin on his face. The larger teen didn't seem to mind at all, in fact, he had a little smile on his face like he actually enjoyed it. "What'cha all up to? Did Kiibo have an oil leak? Does he need the potty?"

Kiibo pointed at Kokichi, the same innocent smile on his face. "Keep on yelling. Of course, you are increasingly sexy, act provocative!"

"...Eh?"

Then he pointed at Rantaro. "Ourselves end when we learn to rise above our mistakes!" Then to Miu. "Being attention seeking goes hand in hand with notoriety." Then at Angie, who was just randomly hanging out nearby. "Don't call it a religion, call it health insurance! Whenever you are sick in the head, remember to move to another country!"

"...Holy shit, he's become a randomly generated shit poster."

"...The heck?"

"...Nee-heehee?"

"Gonta doesn't get what a 'shit poster' is."

"(OwO)? Does Angie have to stab a bitch?"

"ANGIE NO!"

"Also, how did you say that out loud?!"

"(^w^')/"

* * *

 **FINALLY, SWEET RELEASE.**

 **Sorry all about taking a few months. As mentioned before I was stuck with college work and had to put this on hold so I can do stuff. I did occasionally do some bits, but nothing too much, plus writer's block was a thing and still is. This chapter was originally heading to be over 15K words and that was far too long, so I decided to cut it in half and upload this part to let you know I'm still alive.**

 **The next half of the chapter (which will be a bit longer) should be released in a week at least, which I hope is the case since it's almost half term and I want to have a break for a while (but I will still need to finish assignment work before hand). The chapter after that should be released a few days after if all goes well. When the next two chapters are uploaded I'll let you all know about uploading schedules or how future chapters are gonna be structured (roughly). I've also been testing out some writing functions but some of it is a little iffy, so if a sentence is worded strangely that may be why.**

 **I'll be answering comments again next chapter, was supposed to do it previous chapter but I forgot. :p**

 **Anyway, I hope I upload soon and that everyone has a good day/night. Please do review and lend me your thoughts, reviews let me know what you like and makes me eager to write more.**

 **Ciao~**


	9. The Liar, The Pig, And The One Who Died

**53 Lies and Counting.**

 _Chapter 8: The Liar and the Pig and the one in between. Part 2._

 _Begin Recording 321drv111-0_ _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 ** _A new discovery? Interesting things pop up and Rantaro makes the mistake of hanging out with Miu (and Kokichi!). But then-_**

 ** _He doesn't actually hang out with Kokichi._**

 ** _Sad times man._**

 ** _._**

"Hey, Shuichi?"

"Ah, yes Kaede?"

Shuichi looked up from his leather-bound book, which was titled in a fancy font, 'So Linger's the Ocean', only to be greeted by Kaede close up to his face. He looked away, flustered and uncomfortable at her closeness and lowered the hood of his cap over his eyes so he wouldn't make direct eye contact.

Kaede smiled sadly, clearly wanted to see Shuichi's face, but pushed herself away to give his personal space back. "I never realized you liked romance novels."

"O-Oh?" Shuichi's cheeks adopted a faint dusting of pink. "I don't read them much... I typically prefer-"

"Murder mystery novels?"

"Y-Yes." Made sense for a detective she supposed. "However I figured it wasn't the best time due to... Our imprisonment here."

"That makes sense. But at least you have good taste in romance novels. Apparently, this one is done by the legendary Toko Fukawa she was an Ultim-"

Suddenly. She was silent, startling Shuichi when she made a pained noise and held her head as if she was coming up with a migraine. Shuichi, worried for his friend, put the book down and "Hey, Kaede?"

"Mffmm..." Kaede let out a pained chuckle, clearly trying to not make the other worried. "I'm fine. I just had a small headache, that's all."

"Would you like for me to get you some water?"

"I think I'm..." She paused. "Actually, would you? My throat feels dry."

"Alright then, I'll be right back."

"Thank you, Shuichi." Kaede smiled.

Shuichi nervously smiled back, heading out from the Library door quickly leaving Kaede to her lonesome. Kaede, assuring herself that Shuichi was gone, went towards the desk he was sitting at and picked up the romance novel. She eyed the book with suspicion, there was something off.

"...Toko F- Nghh?!"

She dropped the book, clutching her head in pain once more as her headache came once more, quickly numbing out and fading away.

"Wh- What on earth?"

* * *

 **Beep!**

 **New rules have been added to the Academy Ruling List.**

 **#17: Major destruction of Academy Property that is not involved in murder is no longer allowed, those who do will be punished.**

 **#18: The blackened can only murder up to two fellow students, any higher than the limit than the blackened will be automatically executed.**

"Well, guess the plan of destroying the place isn't happening."

He almost wanted to laugh to himself. Destroying the academy from the inside actually sounded like a good idea since the Exisals were destroyed, however, the spears would just destroy any hope of destroying the academy from the inside. Explosions would definitely have been a good idea.

'Crud, what about Monocoin collecting?!'

"Bah, what did Kaito think he could use when destroying the damn place? His fists?!"

"...I think he was, to be honest."

"God, does he think he's one of those 'manly men' who think their muscles are the key to solving everything?"

"I'm not entirely if that's correct, but maybe?"

Right now both Miu and Rantaro were heading towards Miu's lab. After a hushed conversation between the two, they both finally agreed to keep what they saw in the toilets a secret, for now at least.

 _"Hey, green pubes, why do you want to keep the passageway a secret?"_

 _"Personally, I thought that it would have been a good idea to tell everyone, however, if there is someone here who's in cahoots with Monokuma they could just get everyone killed."_

 _"In cahoots? What, is someone a traitor or something?"_

 _"I don't know-"_

 _A lie._

 _"-But I don't want to run the risk of getting people killed. We have no idea who our kidnappers even are or what they did to kidnap us in the first place. They might have a mole to keep an eye on us. Of course, this is a theory but, I don't want to risk anything."_

 _"I see, I see..."_

And that was that. Thankfully Miu didn't push the subject and had switched the conversation.

Rantaro was thankful for that.

He wasn't thankful of a certain... 'Joke', that was aimed towards him after she switched topic, however.

 _"..."_

It was such an untasteful and vile joke, he didn't even properly recall what Miu even said, something about being a 'mommy's boy' (which he knew wasn't a good sign). But since she looked like she was about to shit herself when she saw his face, so it might have hit too close to home.

 _"I-I'm sorry! I won't make those jokes again!"_

 _"Miu, if you want to keep a friend usually insulting them isn't the best way to go. And if you make that joke about me again-"_

 _"I know I know! I won't insult you!"_

 _'...Bitch.'_

Yeah. How kind he was.

So the conversation was switched again as they began to pass by the Shrine of Judgement, and as they began to have a deeper look at the rules, Rantaro had noticed something was happening near the destroyed shrine.

A bunch of people were arguing with each other. Actually, when he took a closer look-

It was the Monokubs! And Monophanie was violently shaking poor Monotaro back and forwards as if she was trying to knock him out of something. Monosuke looked like he was trying to calm her down while Monokid was looking at them oddly quiet. Monodam was also just staring at them quietly, but he was a few feet away from them and just looked flat out nervous.

So the usual then.

"H-Hey!" Rantaro yelled. "Get your filthy hands off my kid!"

The four cubs jumped backwards in surprise as Rantaro ran towards them and swiped Monotaro from the pink bear's grasp, causing Monotaro to cheer in delight and snuggled up to his new father. "Hey, sweetie. How are you?"

"Mhhmhh! I'm fine, father." Monotaro had a wide smile on his face. "Everyone dragged me out of our room and I didn't want to go with them, I swear. I'm sorry for not staying..."

"Hey, it's fine. It wasn't your fault."

Monophanie was not having it.

"Your kid?" She repeated with a vile disgusted tone that was adopted into her voice. "Your kid!? How dare you, how dare you think you can separate us from each other?! Who do you think you are?!"

"Who am I? I'm a damn teenager that just wants to fucking go home, that's what!" Rantaro hissed. "Who do you think you are thinking you can force us into killing each other for your sick amusement?!"

"Bears who are much more important than you will ever be!"

"Monophanie!" Monosuke yelled. "You gotta calm down, ya'll get more wrinkles on ya pretty face and damage ya throat."

"But Monotaro is being controlled!" Monophanie was on the verge of sobbing. "I just want to help him! I'll kill the bastard if it means I can save Monotaro!"

"But ya can't, the rules-"

"State that father cannot harm or be harmed by the students. The rules say nothing about us!"

"But think about it this way~ Ma cherie~" Monokid hiccuped quite clearly drunk and his voice sounding like a Disney princess. "Daddyo will get real mad~ Yeah he will~ He will punish us and get real mad, oh yeah yeah~"

'Damn that's a good singing voice.'

"I know he will, but-"

"But nothing," Monosuke said with his tone final. "We're sorry for botherin' you. We oughta get going before pops figures out the trouble we've been causing."

"...WE-ARE-SORRY."

"Hear the lonely prayer~ Ringing through the land of rain~" Monokid continued to sing. "Yeah~ The world will be encased in~ A sea to trap the sinners~ A land of undeath, frost and blood~ Lies beyond the distant lies~."

"..."

 **"So long, bear well~"**

They left, leaving only Monodam and Monotaro behind, the later only snuggled in closer into his father's chest. Rantaro couldn't help himself from scratching behind his ear, which Monotaro responded with a delighted noise and urged him to continue.

Monodam stared at him for a moment, almost hesitating something before disappearing himself.

"Fucking wankstains..."

He's letting his inner Brit out.

"How interesting," Miu muttered to herself, going up to Monotaro and fussing his head gently. "I heard about this, how Monotaro thinks your his dad?"

"I don't really know why either, it might have to do with the fact that I crushed him by accident when I fell out from the locker."

"Hit him on the head?"

"Hit him everywhere. He's pretty sturdy."

"I see, I see." Miu nodded to herself. "Bring him over to my lab, maybe I can figure out how to get information from him if he has a memory chip of sorts."

"Alrighty then. Ready Monotaro? We're having a mini trip!"

"Yay! Mini trip! Mini trip!"

And thus they continued to Miu's research lab.

* * *

'Miu's lab is... Awfully scary.'

It looked exactly as it did in the game, and that was the problem. There was absolutely no need for giant saws, chainsaws, giant syringes, and the bloody drills were bigger than his body unless Miu was building a giant mech Gundam style or she was creating some freakish chimera. There were vials and beakers filled with liquids, mostly bright neon coloured liquids mixed with some darker coloured ones.

There was also that table in the centre, you know, the one that looks like a fucking operation table? Yeah, that one. He wasn't sure if they were in the original game, but the table had cuffs on there to hold people down. It looked like a mad scientists lair. And Monotaro sat ever so happily on the table like he was going to Disney land.

'Hopefully, she doesn't think to use it on anyone in the future. Now that I think about it, I never got that table back home fixed did I? Oh well.'

That was the least of his worries.

"So..." Miu began, walking to the opposite end of the room. "The things you ordered..."

"You couldn't do them?"

"Oh no, I can do them. It's just that I don't have the time to do them all with the lack of things I need. However, I did at least get these done, don't worry, I'm pretty sure their the size of the average dude's testicles."

She tossed him what looked like a pink capsule at first, however when Rantaro went to take a closer inspection he realised what they were.

It was the EMP grenades that Miu had made, pink grenades with a picture of a mouse mascot stuck to the sides. The same ones that were shown in chapter 5 by Kokichi who had said that she was making these and the hammers to combat Monokuma.

"These are the EMP's?"

"Yep. I never got any of the weapons completed due to the lack of resources. I did try and go into the warehouse to get some nit bits but..." She looked at the grenades in his hands in thought. "Why do you need them again?"

"Umm... It's apart of a plan to destroy the Monomono Machine, to destroy Kaede's hopes and dreams?"

"...So it's for the Monokuma freak. All right then."

'Nailed it!'

"So, what was that about the Warehouse?

"Oh yeah, well. I did TRY. Tsundere baby Maki stopped me from heading any further from passing out from the smell. It smells like complete ass in there. Are you used- I mean, have you smelled such terrible shit before?"

"Like I said. Sulphur smells like absolute crud."

"Hey green pubes, there was so much more than sulphur there. It smelt like there was a freaking corpse disposal, it was so... Shitty!" The mere thought even made her gag. "How could you tell what's in there?"

"I have a sensitive nose." He shrugged. "I remember that we moved around a bit back home, one of the places was next to a suicide spot and some horrid bog. It was so bloody unbearable I couldn't even go outside without throwing up."

"Sounds like absolute crap if you ask me..." She looked up at him. "Are you British?"

"Eh?"

"O-Oh. It sounds like you're using British slang sometimes, right? And sometimes you have an accent that pops up when you sound stressed."

She sounded so interested when she said that.

'Now that I think about it... Can you really hear British accents when speaking Japanese? And why does everything translate into English for me? Would my slang sound strange in Japanese? Am I possibly overthinking this? I hid my accent because of my speaking speed, maybe I can speak normally?'

"Yeah, I am actually."

"I was just curious, No-tits-Kaede said you lived in England for most of your life right?" He nodded. How does she know that? Did Kaede really tell her? "Hmm... I never met a Brit before-"

'Omigosh she said Brit, the madwoman!'

"-And since I am one of the most famous people on planet Earth, that's saying a lot."

'Oh god, I am gonna regret this...'

...Against his better part if his brain, he let his accent out.

"Oh, w-well. You... Gotta problem with that love?"

God, did he just say that? He really fucking did, didn't he? 'God that sounded so forced! That's like... Fuckin' stereotypical British, like a Brummie!'

Miu cackled. Clearly, she was loving this.

"Oh my god! You sound so adorable pubes!" Miu cooed, much to the embarrassment of Rantaro. His accent was not adorable! "You should let your accent out more often, it'll be unfair to the world if no one hears what you truly sound like!"

"...I sound unprofessional when I speak normally." Rantaro turned away hoping to any God, even Atua, that Miu wouldn't see his red face "I use a lot of slang so no one would understand what I'm even saying most of the time. Plus, I talk faster than a mouse on crack as well."

He was used to talking like a human that wasn't a mouse on crack. He purposely made sure the accent didn't stand out here because of that reason, also Rantaro Amami was not even British. Tsumugi would be on his ass in an instant before he would even realise it.

Miu mouthed the words 'mouse on crack' with an amused look on his face. "Well, that just ain't fair." Miu pouted. "Oh well... Hey, green pu- Rantaro, can you do me a big favour as well? As a friend anyway?"

"Sure. What is it, Miu?"

"Uh, well..." Miu began, slowly starting to stutter. She twiddled her fingers together nervously before continuing. "Would you... Hang out withmetoday?"

"Excuse me?"

"You fuckin' heard me!" Miu yelled quite clearly irritated from repeating herself. "I want to hang out with your gay ass, dammit!"

"Oh-"

"Shit- I didn't mean to insult- Fuck, please forgive me- Please don't-"

"-Yeah that's fine. I was supposed to hang out with Kokichi but I think he's a tad busy right now."

"-Leave me." Silence, for a brief moment. "Fuck, wait, seriously?"

"Yeah. So you wanna show me your inventions or do you wanna chat..."

"HELL YES! I WANT TO HEAR YOUR ACCENT MORE TOO, SO KEEP IT UP!"

Miu's loud voice assaulted his poor ears.

All he felt was weak pain in his brain-

Mixed in with a teaspoon of regret everywhere else.

'De-fucking-licious.'

 **Free Time Event: Start!**

So Rantaro and Miu spent the next hour messing about in her lab, with Miu showing off her inventions and nearly sawing Rantaro's hand off all while Monotaro was taking a peaceful nap. Overall it was a pretty good time and Rantaro found out what was in the vials.

It was something he had no intention of saying to keep everyone innocent.

'Well, I had a good time, even if I nearly turned into Nagito by the end.'

"So, Miu. What do you feel like talking about?"

"Hmm, nothing much, how about you?"

'Oh no, they were not having a conversation about me again when it's supposed to be about her.'

"Same."

"Oh."

"Yeah," Rantaro continued somewhat awkwardly. "Did anything interesting happen before you were kidnapped and sent here?

Miu was silent for a moment, messing with the controls of one of the drills in the meantime. She closed one of the open panels of the drill and walked up to him. Cautious, Rantaro took a step back, but was quickly intercepted by Miu and-

Gently rubbed her hand against the top of his head.

'Hu...H?'

It was comfortable, despite her hands being gloved and clammy, her skin was surprisingly smooth. He felt her fingers through each strand of his hairs almost like she was weaving a needle through cloth. She kept stroking him gently, and suddenly Rantaro couldn't help himself and pushed his head further into her hand, letting out a strange purring noise.

"Dude, what the fuck?" Miu looked confused, taking away her hand which to the despair of Rantaro. "You like being pet like that?"

Rantaro's face suddenly felt warm, he could practically feel the blood starting to flood his cheeks. 'Shit didn't mean to lose myself like that, crap.' Would he be able to salvage this? "Didn't you act weird when I stroked you as well?"

"Well, duh! You have really firm hands, honestly with fingers like those I'm not surprised that a twerp like Kokichi stuck around with scissoring techni-"

"Oh my god! I swear to fucking god-"

"Heeeeeeeeee!"

Miu let out a frightened scream, holding her arms above her heads as if to defend herself. It didn't take very long for Rantaro to realise she was trying to avoid getting potentially hit, it triggered in his mind that this was quite obviously an abuse mechanism, he immediately fixed his body language to be much more submissive and none aggressive and quietly called out to her, "Miu? I'm sorry for yelling. Please, look at me?"

She let out a pathetic and scarred whimper before letting her shaking arms apart to look at him.

"It's alright." Rantaro sat down on the table next to Monotaro who was in blissful slumber and quietly snoring and mumbling, 'I love you, daddy,' in his sleep. "Take a deep breath, deep breaths now alright?"

"I-I don't- I don't-"

"Breath with me?" Rantaro quietly ordered. "One, two, three, inhale-" Miu took a few seconds to inhale, still clearly panicked, "One, two, three, exhale-"

They both continued like this for the next few minutes, Rantaro guiding Miu as best he could with breathing in a clear pace, and slowly, Miu had begun to finally calm down. She was still shuddering quite a bit, still obviously frightened, but she was doing much better.

"You alright?"

"I thi- I think so." Miu began to breathe in again. "Yeah."

"You need a few seconds to cope? Would you like to take a few minutes alone?"

Miu stared at her hands almost as in a trance, unblinking. 'She must have been quite out of it,' Rantaro thought sympathetically. 'It reminds me of back then, back when I was but a small ch-'

...

'A small... Child?'

...

He couldn't remember. Why can't he remember-

"...I ended up unintentionally creating the 'Fuck-A-Bot' sex bot franchise while making those shitty eyedrop glasses."

...What?

Okay, it was nice to know that Miu was a bit better to continue the conversation. She was quite clearly upset and unnerved and Rantaro had planned to go get her a snack or a hot drink to help calm her down and collect her thoughts.

But-

"...What?"

Okay, he had to hear this. How does one accidentally create a franchise of fuckable robots while making eyedrop glasses?

Miu suddenly let out a boisterous laugh, wiping the tears and snot off her face, which quickly turned in a nervous chuckle. "It's an interesting story only for the smartest of people like me- and you of course!" She coughed to clear her throat, as well as obviously trying to divert from her mistake. "You see, back like, a year ago? I was going around Japan and landed in a shit stain of a company in Kyoto that developed glasses, eye drops, all of the neat stuff for those with shitty eyes."

"Okay then."

Good thing he never needed glasses.

'Unlike the others... Others? Why is my memory-"

"SO!" Miu continued loudly, snapping him from his thoughts. "I decided to help them out with my newer, still in development inventions."

"And you volunteered?"

"Eh, more like I was a temporary employee, plus they paid me like, 10 million in advance?"

"Excuse me?!"

"Well... When I say 'shit stain of a company' I meant one of the leading market chains and facilities regarding those with shit sight in Japan, third in all of Asia." Miu corrected herself, a massive grin on her face. "I certainly upped their legacy through with my new sex bots though! Anyway," Miu continued with the story. "I decided to experiment with these WIP inventions and with some help, I was able to help produce a type of eyedrop, you remember those shitty eyedrop contact lenses that I mentioned before? Those were actually the original successful prototypes!"

"Woah, that sounds amazing Miu! How did you make them?"

"Hey, I can't be giving out information like that to potential rivals!"

Rantaro smiled, albeit with disappointment. "Aw... Alright then, master's secret, I understand." He paused for a moment, waiting for Miu to continue. "So... The sex bots?"

"What about them?"

"Weren't you going to tell me how you made them?"

"Oh yeah, tell you what dip- I mean... If you promise to see me again, I can tell you, okay?"

'...Damn it, the secret of the sexbot is still locked away.'

"Okay then, I was gonna plan on seeing you again anyway..." Rantaro stated.

"Oh! Yeah, wait there a sec! I wanna show you something that will get you really tingly~" Miu giggled. "Wait here!" And immediately went to the back of the room.

The room was silent for a minute, with the exception of Rantaro tapping the floors gently with his feet in a rhythm and Miu rummaging through some beakers and vials, for some reason shaking her behind like a bumblebee on crack, before yelling 'Eureka!' and rushed back to Rantaro.

Miu held up a strange device. It was a grey colour, circular in shape with four metal, V-shaped protrusions on its sides. Other than that there was nothing else notable about the device.

"What's this?"

"Alright, I want you to turn around, back facing to me."

He suddenly stared at the device suspiciously. 'What is she gonna do with it? Must be something bad if it's Miu.' "Alright then..."

Miu grinned with excitement, jumping up and down on her toes. "This will sting for a second, but it shouldn't hurt too bad!"

"What-"

She suddenly slapped the device onto his back, making him jolt from the sudden force and winced in pain as the metal stabbed into his back. However after a second, the machine let out a slightly loud 'beep', and before Rantaro even knew it-

"Oh... Oh!"

'This feels good!'

The machine was vibrating, it was doing some weird vibration to his muscles which were causing them to loosen up. Before he knew it, ten seconds later he had completely collapsed onto the floor like a sack of sad potatoes, vibrating ever so slightly and letting out happy sighs. He never felt so relaxed before, was it what it felt like to have loose muscles? The stimulation was amazing!

"Umm... Pubes?" Miu called out wearily, slightly amused from the sight but worried about the results. "Are you alright?"

"Hah~"

"Man. Didn't think you would nut from it..." Miu muttered to herself. "It's supposed to help reduce stress in the muscles and help with my 'Work While You Sleep' products, to produce more workable bodies and the like. You... Are the first person to act like they discovered they like anal for the first time. Is it that good?"

"Mhhh-hmmm!"

 **Beep!**

 **You obtained a Friendship Fragment!**

 **Miu Iruma fragments, 2/6.**

"I'll have to write down these notes for later. Seems like you really enjoy the company of a vibrator, haha!"

"Hah! It feels... Gooooood~"

This was going nowhere, it looked like Rantaro was seconds from melting into a puddle.

"I-I see. I'll remove the-"

"NO! Just a few minutes longer please!"

"Pubes! If it stays on you will never recover, I like voyeurism as much as the next chick, but not in my lab when I'm working on shit!"

* * *

Rantaro couldn't help but pout alone in his room.

It had been a few hours since Miu had taken off the device, a muscle relaxant which hasn't been named yet, and Rantaro still couldn't entirely get off his bed without assistance. Apparently, there had been a few after-effects of the device, one of these was complete body numbness (thankfully not paralysis) so he was comparable to a mass of floppy flesh on his bed right now.

He couldn't help it, it felt really good.

'Maybe Miu can give me the finished relaxant...'

Poor girl had to carry him to his room, a difficult task cause she didn't have much strength. Eventually, she just gave up when she was trying to open his door, and just left him outside his room. He was able to get back inside though thanks to his keys and with what little muscle strength he had left and flopped on his bed and passed out for an hour from tiredness.

And apparently Miu kidnapped his child to perform experiments.

Great, his first child and he's already lost him.

He looked over to his desk, eyeing the EMP grenades on his desk quietly then eyed his door suspiciously. There was a small note that had been slid under his door in his sleep, and his muscles were still mushy to the point where he couldn't move. He was tempted to try again, but his bed was too comfy and he really didn't want to move another inch cause his bones felt like glass, plus he might accidentally break his foot and-

'Alright me, alright enough with the excuses.' Rantaro told himself mentally. 'You gotta get up.'

'No,' Another part of Rantaro huffed. 'Sleep. Comfy.'

'Rest.'

'No!' The original groaned and lifted his body up. 'Note!'

As you can see, another side effect of the relaxant was that Rantaro went a bit looney in the head and was now arguing with himself.

With a half-assed push, Rantaro was able to roll off the bed with a quiet 'thud' before crawling over to his door and painfully slow as possible. After a full minute of crawling, he was able to reach for the note and picked it up, and started to read the contents.

 _Rantaro._

 _Sorry, I have to cut our plans. Something came up that's caught my interest._

 _Kokichi._

 _PS: Miu left you a key which I took for safe keeping. It wouldn't fit under the door. :p_

"Aw man."

Guess he had to bother Kokichi at a later date then if he wanted that mystery key.

* * *

"Maybe just an omelette tonight..."

The lingering sensation was still on his head, which made him shudder every so often as he looked through the fridge, which thankfully contained no half frozen mages or anything else that was particularly unusual.

He couldn't help but rub the spot where Miu had pet him, trying his best to ignore the affectionate rumble that tried to escape his throat. He was like a goddamn cat whenever someone would touch him like that, flicking the nonexistent switch on the top of his head which made him so tame and docile, and it had annoyed him to no end.

But...

It just felt so nice. He couldn't help himself.

It reminded him of... That.

"Meh, can't be bothered, I'll just have an apple or something again."

The one thing he couldn't remember. What was it?

What was it? What was it? What was it?

"Bah, I'll just have an apple or something," Rantaro huffed as he took out an apple from one of the baskets on the kitchen tables. "I can cook something extravagant tomorrow instead-"

"Heehee!"

A feminine giggle that came from the doorway of the kitchen made Rantaro let out a weary sigh, clearly too tired to deal with anything else tonight.

"Yes 'Heehee' indeed Kokichi. I'll come out in a- Wait."

That wasn't Kokichi, he didn't think his laughs could sound so feminine and that didn't sound like anyone here. He turned towards the exit, expecting someone putting out a higher pitch voice.

Except it wasn't.

It was a person he hasn't seen before, a person with their face hidden behind a plain white mask with a gold mark on its front. He couldn't tell what their gender was as their body was covered in a red robe with gold trimmings and most of their head covered by the hood of the robe, a few locks of black hair were visible, however. That was all he could see.

The first thought that came to his head, 'Wow, that's a really nice looking cloak, that must be really expensive.'

Then the second thought was, 'Wait, who the hell is this?'

They both stared at each other for a moment, with no one saying anything. Rantaro stayed still but he was very much prepared to reach for the nearest weapon if this person did something fishy. However, the closest thing he had was the apple he had in his hand.

"Hello, Ran!" The person said, and judging by their feminine voice Rantaro had to guess this was a woman. "How are you?"

He didn't answer back, which caused the girl to tilt her head. "How rude, didn't your mother ever teach you proper manners?" She coughed. "Oh, sorry, you never had a mother- Didn't Casca ever teach you proper manners?"

...Huh? Casca? Why did-

Oh...

And all of a sudden something in his head just clicked, and before he knew it he felt his brain suddenly become consumed by walls of new and alien information. However it wasn't as painful or shocking as the first time, it felt like it was nothing more than a small jolt.

Casca.

Caaaaaaaaassca.

'Oh fuck what? What on- What?'

"H-How do you- Who am... Whoooo am I?"

"Hush now sweet cheeks." The girl put her index finger up to wear her lips should be. "The Mistress is talking. And she wants you to follow her."

"What?"

Who on earth was she?

What did he do? Why did he-

The girl giggled, however, this time felt forced and annoyed. "Follow me Ran." She began to slowly walk out. "Come on, chop chop! Your brain hasn't regressed that much just yet!"

"I-I'm sorry, who are yooooou?"

His mouth... Why did his jaw feel so dead?

The girl didn't respond, she instead just walked up to him with a playful hop in each of her steps, Rantaro slowly being pushed against the fridge as she got close enough to force her masked face up his own. "Come on! I want to show you something! Do you want to get out?"

'...What on Earth?'

He should be freaking out about this, why wasn't he properly freaking out about this? He just felt relaxed, calm. Who the fuck was this person?

"Who-"

"Oh? Did something click? Did you remember something?" She asked. "Guess I'll have to fix that in a minute."

The girl put her index finger onto his lips, silencing him and seeming accidentally sticking her fingers on his tongue which she quickly removed. Her fingers had a strange taste, Rantaro had noticed. It was sweet, but had an almost medicinal taste to it, almost like paracetamol. But there was something else, a taste he couldn't put his finger on. It was something powdery.

The woman pressed against his lips harder and just looked at him completely for a solid ten seconds, and for all of those 10 seconds Rantaro could feel an empty pit from within the depths of his stomach. He felt like he should be panicking, he WANTED to panic, he WANTED to push her away and defend himself, to push her away.

However, all he felt was strange tranquillity and calmness, a type that tried to force his muscles to relax, a type that tried to force him down on the ground. A contrast to his heart, which hammered in his chest like a bell that blocked out all outside noise.

What was going on?

His body felt heavy, his legs were weakening, his throat felt numb and the strange orb on his belly felt warm.

"Shhh... It's alright now." The girl cooed. Rantaro wobbled on his legs, his balance suddenly became poor and his grip on reality weakened. He resisted, however, he couldn't stop himself from falling forward and collapsing onto the girl, who reacted in time and managed to catch him before he met the floor, or downed her even. He could feel his brain slowly shutting down.

He couldn't feel a thing.

He couldn't see a thing.

He could see only a slowly darkening landscape.

"It will all be over soon, I can promise you that much."

The girl reached into her cloak, pulling out something purple and shaped like a flashlight yet at the same time it wasn't. It looked familiar, it looked an awful lot like a flashback-

'Wait... That's-'

The world around him twisted and warped. His brain began to freeze up not only from the information that was currently assaulting his brain like a tsunami but the old information that began-

Began. Began?

Began began began began beganbeganbeganbeganbeganbegan? Beeeeegan?

And then everything went black.

* * *

His head hurt.

It wasn't a surprise. When was the last time he woke up from an event which knocked him out without a painful headache? Never. 'Does that apply to everyone?' Rantaro thought in his heavy and pain-ridden mind, still groggy from the silence and darkness. It would make sense. It was stupid of him to think so. And now that he thought of it, he was passing out quite a lot recently wasn't he?

First, it was the very beginning of when he first arrived at the academy, then it was when his belly had been struck by severe pains that made him pass out...

Was that it? He thought it was.

Where was he anyway?

With a pained wince, he slowly opened his eyes. At first, he was greeted by a blurry haze, and just as his vision became clearer his other senses became active as well.

He heard a quiet electrical hum, suddenly silenced by a loud noise akin to something moving a heavy object across the floor and a rumble before it stopped and the humming was the only noise left once again.

He felt cold concrete, and some wet moss under his fingers.

'Is this... The library?'

He could smell the familiar scent of musty old books, something he familiarized himself when he and Kaede started to destroy the library together. But there was something else, something else that started to raise red flags in his head, something metallic, sour and rancid.

Blood.

It was nearby and quite strong, so strong when he breathed in more of the scent he started to gag. It smelt so sour and foul! He's never smelt blood this bad before, where on earth was it coming from?

His eyes were eventually greeted by the library ceilings coated in shadow, barely illuminated by the small handful of lights attached to the walls after a long period of questionable haze. It felt like everything was in high definition as everything suddenly looked so crisp and clear, despite the darkness he could see silver strands of webbing and little clouds of dust swarming around the lights, as well the metal pipes and books further ahead ever so clearly.

And there was something resting on top of his forehead, causing him to lazily reach for it and grabbed it sloppily.

'..? Is this a swipe card?'

It was a grey card with a red line. The letters ' **FFRAC** ' written on one side in bolden black. He was confused, what was this for and where did it come from?

At first, he attempted to stand up, a loud hiss and whimper escaped his lips as his legs quickly gave up and caused him to tumble to the floor like a sack of potatoes. He attempted again, this time moving onto his side and slowly began to push himself-

Blue.

Rantaro looked at his hand, an expression of numb surprise and confusion was evident when he noticed strands of large and short blueish coloured hair clutched in his hand. He looked at the strands still dazed, rubbing the strands between his fingers absentmindedly quietly noting its captivating softness.

What was he looking at?

Was this blue fur?

Why was there blue... Hair... Pink?

His eyes fell on something, or rather someone he didn't acknowledge at first due to his disorientation. It was something rather boring and non-descriptive if he had to be perfectly honest, just a lump of blue flesh. He was surprised he never even noticed it.

And, to be even more honest, if he didn't know any better that lump looked kinda like a dead bod-

'...Oh.'

Suddenly red sirens blared in his eardrums and a had to hold back his scream when his brain finally registered what he was looking at, what the neon pink that was splattered across the floor was.

It was Tsumugi, laying on the floor with a small puddle of pink blood forming under her head.

"T-Ts-Tsumugi?"

What... What was he looking at?

Why was Tsumugi lying on the ground?

"He- Hey." Rantaro choked out, desperately trying to pick himself up.

Was she sleeping? If so what a strange place to sleep.

Why was she bleeding, she should have been fine right?

She is the Mastermind, right?

('Why should he care if she died,' Rantaro thought in the deepest part of his mind, 'She was the Mastermind, was she not? And terrible people don't deserve love. Only you.')

His legs trembled again, giving out once more as he tried to take a small step towards the body, this time collapsing at the second step, however, was able to fall right next to her nearly crushing her arm in the process.

"Shit- Shit Tsumugi-" Rantaro checked for a pulse on her neck and wrist, his body becoming impossibly cold, much more than before when he felt nothing. He lifted her head as gently as he could and rested her head onto his lap. "What happened- happened?"

No pulse, no signs of breathing, nothing.

There was blood sticking to the back of her head, where Rantaro guessed where her wound would be and so began to check that area with his fingers so he could determine what had killed her, and maybe how they killed her if they were lucky.

'Who killed her?'

So, he continued to feel around, his cheeks warm with tears and his eyes burning.

'Why am I crying so much? Stupid girl.' He cursed himself. 'Stupid empathetic thrash.'

He paused his fumbling, frowning at what he felt. All he felt was a bruise. There were no signs of cuts or anything particularly nasty that would cause bleeding like this, the worst he felt was a purple and yellow bruise as well as... Something strange he couldn't quite make out, it felt like engravings.

'The skull seems to be intact, she's still pretty warm as well so she must have died very recently, blood is somewhat warm and fresh, can't see coagulation just yet.' Rantaro noted, wiping his tears and snot away. He had to calm down, tell everyone after he checked the body, a late night trial didn't sound appealing but what else could he do. 'No fractures, what even struck her? Should I even attempt CPR?'

The chances of CPR working in this situation was extremely low, however, it has worked before, they just needed immediate medical help afterwards. Crap, the medical equipment was in the warehouse and that place is a toxic wasteland right about now. He didn't have time to search around the warehouse while covering his mouth for meds let alone just running back and forth and possibly smashing his head on the stairs, he didn't even know where such stuff would be.

Rantaro bit his thumb, he might as well give it an attempt. He had nothing to lose. The worst to happen is gonna be a class trial.

After some fumbling, he adjusted himself so he was hovering over Tsumugi's body, who was now lying on her back with enough of her jacket off for him to get a good grip on her chest (not in that way) without falling flat on his face due to his rather shaky body.

He took a deep breath.

'Please work!'

And immediately began to push down-

Tsumugi's bloodshot eyes shot wide open.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Her sudden pained screech certainly took Rantaro by surprise, so much that he fell onto his back as soon as Tsumugi shot up from her position, and yelled ever so eloquently,

"SWEET MERCIFUL MARA ON A DONG, WHAT THE FUCK?!"

In the loudest yet hush tone, anyone could possibly muster.

Tsumugi continued to scream, rolling and writhing underneath him like a beheaded bug, clutching her head like a lifeline from death. Her movements were sudden and strong, jerking into and from different positions like a girl possessed, not even Rantaro, who had snapped out of his startled state, could hold her down from making sudden movements.

"Tsumugi! Tsumugi, calm down! It's fine, no one is here to hurt- Guh!" He was interrupted by a jab to the face from the convulsing Tsumugi. Rantaro tried once more to hold her down. "TSUMUGI!"

Then, just as suddenly as she started to freak out.

She stopped.

"R-Rantaro?"

And came back to life.

"Rantaro?" Tsumugi repeated, voice hoarse and confused. "Why are you- Oooff!"

And out of nowhere, Rantaro suddenly had her in a death grip hug knocking the air out of her. "Oh my god, Tsumugi you're alive! I was so scared!" Fuck, he even didn't care if she was the Mastermind or not, that scared him!

"H-Huh?" Tsumugi choked out. "O-Of course I'm alive, I'm... W-Where am I?"

Rantaro let her go to let Tsumugi breath again, as well as taking a proper look at her surroundings. "Why, why am I in the library? I was just heading to the kitchen and was about to enter when-" She paused when she looked at his face. "You... When did you have freckles?"

'...Eh?'

"I'm sorry, what?"

"All over your face and... Shoulders? You have freckles."

"I... I do?"

Was Tsumugi fucking with him ever so nonchalantly? He never had freckles, only on his old body did he have freckles!

"A-Anyway, thank goodness your alright. I came into the library," That was sort of a lie, "And saw you on the ground. You weren't breathing and you had no pulse! You had blood and some strange bruises on your head and you just started, freaking out, you were freaking out like a decapitated wasp drunk on apple cider!"

"I'm... Not going to ask how you made that comparison nor I do I want to know how you know how a decapitated wasp drunk on cider acts like." Tsumugi groaned, feeling the back of her head, her eyes widening when she touched the bruise. "Is this-"

"Yeah, you had a very strange bruise on your head when I was checking for injuries, but-"

"Numbers."

"-I couldn't... Hold on, numbers?"

He was confused, what did numbers have to do with this?

"I can feel number engravings on the back of my head." Tsumugi clarified. Her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh."

"Is something the matter?"

"Oh, no. It's nothing. I'm still startled from everything, my head still hurts." Tsumugi looked off in the distance. "I'm just..."

"Overwhelmed?"

"Yeah."

Rantaro was silent for a moment. "Do you, need some help getting to your room?"

"Ah, no I should be fine! Look!" Tsumugi wobbled as she started to stand up, unsure of her legs and stance. "S-See?"

"...Yeah, no, you look like your legs are about to give out and are barely held together with dried spaghetti and glue. Hold on to my shoulder, I'll take you to your room." Rantaro motioned towards his shoulder.

"A-Alright. You won't try and take advantage of plain Jane here, right?"

"Fuck no. Also, you really need a shower, your hair reeks of blood."

"O-Oh."

* * *

"Well shit."

He just delivered Tsumugi to her room, who was still taking this far too well considering she was fucking dead, and went back to his room to check on his face, clearly ready for the prank Tsumugi was about to revel in-

'Oh.'

His face was covered in freckles, small, medium and large freckles decorated his face that danced down past his neck to his shoulders, leaving his throat clean from the brown spots.

It looked exactly like the freckles he had on his old body.

"This is gonna be awkward to explain."

* * *

"Gah! That intruder is quite the pest!"

Monokuma's snarl made the Monokubs, barring Monophanie who was missing, shudder in barely contained fear, all huddling together to avoid Monokuma's wrath. All of them were in a 'super-super secret room', as the Monokubs had called it, pitch black room, the only light was the reds from their eyes and the faint glow of the screen Monokuma held in his paws.

The air was stagnant and old, not that any of the bears particularly cared because they really had no need to breathe. However, because it was stagnant set off a few flags in Monokuma's head.

So, he began to check the systems through the security pad. And the results made him a very unhappy bear.

 **Error!**

 **Air ventilation in 'Secret Room 2' offline.**

 **Error!**

 **Temperature and Weather Controls offline.**

 **Error!**

 **Academy Transfer Pipes offline.**

 **Error!**

 **Electricity Generators offline.**

 **Academy Power Generation is at 0%**

 **Academy Overall Power is at 91%**

 **WARNING.**

 **Unknown virus has been detected within the system. Would you like to run a security scan?**

 **YES/NO?**

"Yes!"

 **Loading...**

 **Error!**

 **Security** **Scan offline.**

 **Would you like to run a security scan?**

"...A virus, ay?"

That was... Curious. It would explain why most of the systems were offline. However this entire system was state of the art tech, and the security measures were just as much. In the outside world, Team Danganronpa constantly monitored and updated the security on the system, making damn sure incidents such as the one back in Danganronpa 27 would never happen again, the incident which caused the system to implode on itself and burned almost half of the participants to death due to a terrorist's virus.

Such an incident was terrifying for Japan and for the rest of the world. The world had been at such peace for so long that such acts were unimaginable. So computer and security company's from all over teamed together to make some extremely high maintenance security, security so tightly packed that users would identify and immediately report any breaches before the virus would even make itself known.

So if this single virus was able to breach extremely strong security...

"P-Pops?"

Monokuma turned towards his cubs, who all jumped in fear. Instead of the violence, they were expecting, Monokuma merely motioned them to come over. And with hesitation, they did, with Monosuke leading and Monodam nervously following behind them.

"Hey, my adorable children." Monokuma started. "I need to run a few virus scans, somethings infected the system and I'm worried if any of my kids are infected."

"...INFECTED?"

"And what if we are?"

"Well..." The bear put his paw on his maw, a sadistic gleam in his eyes. "I guess you'll all become scrap metal then. I can't have a virus destroying the Killing Game and ruining the fun." Well, ruining the Killing Game anymore than it has already.

The three cubs looked at each other nervously. Monokid was on the verge of screaming as he pushed Monodam towards Monokuma, quite clearly terrified. "I- I don't wanna die!"

"N-Neither do I!" Monosuke hissed. "Pops, there has to be somethin' else we can do?!"

"Oh~ My adorable cubs." Monokuma sighed with twisted affection. "I need to scan you before I do anything too drastic. I don't want to harm anyone of you if you're not sick-"

 _Taptaptaptaptaptap-_

"DADDY!"

Out on the other side of the room came in Monophanie running out of the darkness, albeit it was more of a waddle, her red eye beeping rapidly as if she was about to explode. She almost tripped a few times before she fell onto her face in front of everyone, all could see the immense distress on their face.

"S-Something is... Someth- Some- Something is really wrong with mommy!"

And as the words escaped her mouth-

 **Beep! Beep! Beep!**

 **Error!**

 **Security System is offline. Headmaster: Monokuma, will no longer be able to use Spears of Gungnir and [Secret Weapon]. Headmaster: Monokuma no longer has permission to change or add any rules.**

 **Error!**

 **Virus detected in Motherkuma unit. Reproductive systems will be offline to prevent contamination of future Kuma units.**

 **Error!**

 **Overall system at 70% contamination. All Kuma units, please disconnect from the system to prevent contamination of AI- AI- AI.** **Ã̵̞̞̞̟͓̄̾̂̆̕͜I̹̥͉̗̹̮̗̬͇̾̆̅̊̉͝,͍̱͍͈͇͇̱̌̆͂͐́̚͜͜͞ͅ Å̵̼̼̞͉̝̦͇̆̍͒̓͑̓͐͢͡I̵̢̨̡̖̥͌̃͛͛̄͆͐͢͠!̖͓͍̫̞̣͕͖̼̯̃͆̓̀̍̕ D̢͈͙̳̮͊͌̃́̀͊̚ǐ̡̨̳̳̥͔̯̌̏́͗̃͟s̯͎̯̹̫̾̍̾́͋͐̓͘̚͡c̜͙̟̝͖̫̺͖̒͗͆̀̀̄̂͢o̧̙͚͈͚̰̮͈̓̓̆̔͆́̍͠n̨̥̙͚̠̼̭̰̞̍̌̄̓̇̈́̓̎͜͝n̶̡̯̲̫̱̞͓̍̊̃͆͋̓̿͋̋͟͝e̷̜͕̥̖̟̾͌̈͒̊̃́͘c̸̯̳͖̬̜̉̃͌̐̇̊͡͠t̛̮̥͕̼̲͙͖̲̓̀̊͛̇̚͜ ţ̡͓͇̮̠͎̞̠͐̅͂͑̅̓͜͠o̴̖̞̜̟͓̞͓͚̭̽̈̃̔͢͞ p̨̡̲̭̖̳̝̭̖̏̊͑͊̊̏͐͊͘ͅŗ̴̧̯͈̱͍̭̉̈̿̕͞ḛ̵̲͖̹͉̍̂̋̌̕v̧̹͎̰̫̯̟̤̫͛͊̅̀̆͘ẹ̟̩̘̩̥̏́͑͌̃̐̚͝͡ṋ̸̡̢̢̢̛͇̭͙̈̑͛̈̅͊́͝t̶͔̝̙̮̀̉̆͑͒̌̔̾̚͢ͅ-̶̥̠͈̗̗̙̖̤͋͋̎̊̅̆̇̎͊͢ͅ p̸̱͙̬̜̠̑̆̄̒̾̿̆̎͗ȑ̶̨̧̭̩̭͖͍̋͋̈́͟͢͞e̛͚͓͎̦̖̿̑̈̽͛̍͡ṽ̷͈̞̩̞͉͚́̾́͂̏͘ḙ̸̢͈͙̤̐̉̾̀̽̿ṇ̷̮̱̘̗̥̹̹̬̋̃́̔͆̑͛̽̈͂t̳͔͔̠̤̲̦͌̾͊͂̕͝-̷̢̯̬̗͛̽́̈̃̒̑̄̔̅͟ p̢̡͉͖̯̋͛̓͂̋͂̄̾͘ṙ̡̺̩̰̞̝͆͊͂̌͑͆͟͞ͅȩ̷̞̹̦̯͉̈́̆̎́͌͑̕̕v͚̝̱͍͔̭̝̆̄̃̽͘͘͟͟͠e̸͓̟̜̖͖̟̓͗̅͘̚͡ņ̶̡̟͚̬͈͔̬̺̾͂̌̓͊͊͜͝͡͠t̠̟̘̱͚̳̙̝͖̾̊̽͊̑̾͆͟-̢̡̧̥̻̗̥͌̍͊̽̄̔͢ͅ W̸̛̫̝̳̦̩̪̻̄̾͊̓͟͞e̴̖̣͎̮̱̔̃̐̍̆̽̊̈͘͜ h̶̰͙̦̠̙̏̏̇́̄̈̽̕͘o̜̟̙̹̳̒̓͋͊̎̿͘͝p̷͈̙̖̉͛̋̓̍͜͞ͅe̛͚͓̭̜̪̖̹̟̰͛̏͊̊̒́͌̊ͅ t̷̬̖̫͈̖̪͔̅̽̇͒̐̌̊̚͞͞ǫ̢̼͓̣̩̩̣̹͗͋͒̈͠ ş̵̞͖̼̩͙͔̤̙̔́̌̂͒ĕ̙̰͖̙̳̔̍͛͒̾̚̕s̸̨̬͙̱̙̞̫̏̃̑͂̎̽̿̓͘͜͟͡e̙̭̯͈̓͆͊̓̎̔̐̃͟͞s̢̡̩̤̟͕̬̦̑̄̄̇͊̚͞͝ͅȩ̨̧͉̪̭͙̩̃͛̀̽͝s̶̳̠̰̰̦̺̣̃͛̏̃̄̚͘͞͝s͙͈̖̗̲͖̎͌͐͐̈́͘͢͢͞e̱͓̥͙̤̽̍̆͢͟͡͠e̶̡̨̗͔̖̥̘͖̔̂̎́̑́̌̕ȩ̧̮̥̺́̌͌̒̐̑̚͞ͅş̷̺̪̟̥̦̿̒̾̓̊̑̀́̊̚͟ͅe̵̝̰̞̖̜̬̩̩̬͑̒̍̓͒̊͟͠e̢̘͚̩͙̤͚͓̭͊̓̈͋͐̆͒͜͠͞é̵̡̨͕̣̯͐̿̐̊͐̾ y̶̥͚͚̙̍̆͛̓́́͆̓͘͟͡o̧̥̬̣̝̠͑̐̑̒͢͢͞ų̷̢͚̙͉͗͗͋̇̾͒͝ s̵͕̘̮͔̮̟̭̪̥͇͆͆̍̂͗̄͝͠͠o̲͉̗̣̭͕̻̫̾̀̌̍̂͗͞ờ̘̝̝̱͈̂̇̆͒̚͟ọ̸̗̝̥͎͙̖̋̋̎̽͆̏̽͟o͕̱̭͉͎͋͗̈́͊͗̚͢o͖̲̞̦̠̺͓̎̎̐̃̾̽̎͟ņ̨̙̬͙͇̤̜̌͂̈̒́̕͜͞!** **̴̨̢̨̦̳̬͎̭̟̭͗̑͐͒͛͗**

The speakers spat out heavy static and garbled speech, soon becoming gibberish. Monokuma growled as the audio continued to spew static, before deciding he has had enough and sliced the pad into pieces with his claws. All of the cubs looked at the pad then too their dad with barely hidden fear once more.

"...My cubs. We have a problem. And if we don't fix this problem no one in this Academy will survive, not even us."

 _End Recording._

* * *

 _"Testing... Recording_ _321drv111-0 seems to be loading decently well, no interference and negative feedback so far. The new recorders seem to really work and actually last more than ten seconds, few days at their limits surprisingly. Rose?_ _"_

 _"Everything is green. Nothing seems to be abnormal either. Purity system is still online."_

 _"Good, good. Mastermind?"_

 _"Tsumugi has already reported back, nothing strange either on her end."_

 _"Alright then. So why is this subject's core still not transmitting the signal? It's going to kill itself."_

 _"I don't know, I think the core is malfunctioning."_

 _"Malfunctioning? That can't be right, we are in the last phase of the Purity Project, we can't be given malfunctioning equipment in such a vital time! And not with such a unique subject!"_

 _"I don't know, I don't know... Wish I had some scotch right now. Maybe I can get those 'pork pie and eggs' they have now. Gala pork pies? Eh, whatever, I still need to sort the files back- ugh, I forgot about the damn fish!"_

 _"...Are you still mad about the-"_

 _"Yes! I am still made about the old project not being greenlit! I spent so much time on those DNA sequences and serums, I am the only one who knows fusion biology more than anyone else on this damn empty wasteland! I was supposed to bring in new possibilities, create trans-humans, literally anything. But nooooo... 'Rose, this project is still risky and is costing a lot of funding.' 'Rose, we are concerned about your insistence on the workings of fusion biology.' 'Rose, I'm sorry we have to hold a convention about you being a thirsty furry!'"_

 _"Snrk... Smokey wasn't wrong. Why did you give him a dog dic-"_

 _"I may be a furry but at least I'm not smitten with their damn subject! Who was it? Purity-01?"_

 _"She created me! Of course, I'm smitten with her!"_

 _"...Why are you even here? Shouldn't you be with your... Pet?"_

 _"..."_

 _"I want to go home. The cold's getting on my nerves."_

 _"It's only -39, it's the warmest it's been the past year. And it's summer!"_

 _"AND IT'S SUMMER!"_

* * *

 **DANGANRONPA MINI-OMAKE!**

 **\\(OwO)\ YAY! /(OwO)/**

 **Alternate! Part 2.**

"So..." His voice was filled with sarcasm. "The girl of the living dead finally caught me."

"And you know exactly what this girl of the living dead is about to do to you, you fucking cunt. I'm going to fucking devour you, you sad shit."

Nagito winced slightly, trying to play off the pain of the knife embedded in his leg and the cut up tendons in the other. Just as he was entering the final stages of his plan, 'Mahiru Koizumi' just had to stop him. The original Mahiru was never this crude, this vile and this... Despairingly murderous. Mahiru was strong enough to call someone out on their crap, this Mahiru was pathetic enough to try and castrate him when he talked back.

"And you think killing me will make everything better? You honestly think killing me will make everything go right?"

"Nah, not really, but killing you is gonna make 90% of my headaches go away so that's a plus. But trying to lure out the traitor by doing something so stupid is something I gotta stop."

"Do you-"

"And let me tell you something." Mahiru interrupted him, pushing the tip of her blade into his chin. "Killing Chiaki is pointless. She isn't the traitor."

"..."

"I've noticed something, something strange about you ever since I came to this damn island. You were far, FAR, too smart. Then I looked into things and I came to the... Haha... I came to the damn realisation that you fucking time looped back to the beginning of this Killing Game, not once, but thrice. But you didn't do shit until I came along, you fucking kept everything the same, even when you knew everyone here is **Ultimate Despair** , even when you knew that the world was slowly getting better. You only changed when I was able to keep everyone except the Imposter and Teruteru alive when most of us should have died."

She couldn't help but laugh. "And why? You had the power to fix everyone. But you didn't because of your fucking views, even when Hajime fucking rejected you," He winced at that, "You still wanted to go through with it, because, let me guess, it was all you could do?"

"...I wasn't allowed to change anything. SHE wouldn't let me. But you-"

"I can," Mahiru growled. "I can change so much because I love everyone, I love everyone on this island so much that when we were in that Funhouse, I even tried to give my kidney to Hiyoko cause she was so weak from hunger, and as the **Ultimate Despair Successor** , I fucking will make sure that Junko will not have her fun, I will bring her such powerful despair that will make her wish for hope. And as the last line of defence against the system being completely corrupted against her I will make sure Hajime and everyone else, you included, live your life the best, happy and alive because I fucking love all of you."

She lifted the knife, pressing the tip against her throat-

"As the official administrator of the Neo World Program, I hereby fucking decree that this school trip is officially over."

* * *

 **BING BONG NOW WE DONE FOLKS.**

 **Now before we continue, let's look at the reviews. :v**

 **Langas: Thank you for your kind words. Sorry, there was no Maki FTE, maybe next time when we vote again? Thank you again and I'm glad you liked the interactions between the characters, and honestly, I hope Kaede survives too, but I guess we'll find out in the next decade if I keep updating at this rate. :p**

 **Final Omni: Thanks for the input, I had already fixed that as soon as you told me. :p**

 **AmazingAnimeAmulet: That omake indeed.**

 **Revamped Persona: Politics suck, and I was worried about it affected literally the majority of the internet. I thought I would mention it cause not many people were taking this as seriously back then as with the other thing that was happening. Monotaro is my second fav of the cubs so I thought I would give him some love. *Insert evil laughter* Guess we'll find out if the Killing Game 'truly' happens.**

 **MysticSpider: I never played Fallen London before and it sounds interesting guess I'll have to look it up in the future.**

 **And that's it I think.**

 **Anyway, next chapter will be released either tomorrow or the day after. Anyway I hope you liked this chapter, please review to let me know your thoughts and I will see you all in a day or to to tell you about my plans.**

 **I hope you all have a beautiful day!**

 **Ciao~**


	10. Let The Good Times Roll

**53 Lies and Counting.**

 _Chapter 9: Let The Good Times Roll._

 _Begin Recording 321drv111-0_ _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 ** _While Rantaro has the knowledge and basic planning, he can't escape the fact this is Danganronpa._**

 _ **.**_

 _ **Let The Good Times Roll~**_

 _ **Hey, everybody, let's have some fun,**_  
 _ **You only live but once,**_  
 _ **And when you're dead you're done!**_

 _ **.**_

"F-Father?"

Monotaro knocked on his father's door quietly, trying to be loud enough to get his father's attention but quiet enough not to disturb anyone because he wasn't a mean bear. The scary lady had passed out exhausted while messing with him and he used the chance to escape back into his father's arms. However, the later of the plan was kind of a bust simply because he has no idea how to lockpick and he was too small to even reach the door handle.

He tried as he might, desperately reaching out for the handle.

"C-C'mon!"

He just couldn't do it.

"...MAY-I-HELP?"

Out of nowhere did Monodam's voice call out, and Monotaro turned around just in time to see Monodam, who was extending his arms to reach for the handle and lock. He grabbed the handle with his paw, staying silent as he carefully nudged it forwards and backs to see if it was actually locked.

"Oh! Hey, Monodam!" Monotaro waved at his brother nonchalantly. "What are you doing at this time at night?"

Monodam was sil- "I-WAS-GETTING-A-BREATHER-FROM-THE-SITUATION. THE-INTRUDER-IS-STILL-AMONG-US. I-WANT-TO-MAKE-SURE-EVERYONE-IS-SAFE."

Monotaro put his paw in front of his mouth, tilting his head in confusion. "Intruder? There's an intruder? Also, yay! Monodam is talking lots again!"

"I-SEE-YOUR-MEMORY-IS-STILL-BROKEN," Monodam said in a robotic monotone, twisting one of his hands he began to fumble then pick at the lock. "DO-YOU-NOT-REMEMBER-FIGHTING-THE-INTRUDER? YOU-WERE-SEVERELY-DAMAGED. WE-FIXED-YOU-IN-THE-END, BUT-IT-WOULD-APPEAR-THAT-YOUR-MEMORY-AND-AI-ARE- PERMANENTLY-DAMAGED."

The red bear had no clue what he was going on about. All he remembered was his siblings and beautiful father and his amazing cuddles!

Monodam was silent for a few more seconds before talking. "...SOMETHING-IS-WRONG-WITH-FATHER."

"Father? I suppose you mean uncle?"

"...HE-ISN'T-RIGHT. MOTHER-ISN'T-RIGHT. NOTHING-IS-RIGHT. THE-UNNATURAL-IS-HAPPENING AND..."

The lock clicked. The door was unlocked.

"EVERYONE-OUTSIDE-IS-SILENT. FATHER-WILL-NOT-STOP-THE-KILLING-GAME, WE-WILL-ALL-DIE-IF-WE-DON'T-STOP."

Then he looked at Monotaro, dead in the eyes with unusual determination.

"FATHER-MUST-DIE-FOR-EVERYONE-TO-LIVE."

* * *

"Alright, let's see..."

It had been nearly half an hour since the nighttime announcement had gone off and he had gone back to his room. At first, he couldn't sleep, the incident with Tsumugi was still fresh on his mind. So he decided to try and take his mind off of it by checking out something Kokichi gave him not too long ago.

The book, 'Amazing Theories on Dimension Hopping!', needed to be deciphered if it had something, anything to do about why he was here. It was in a chest, a very strange chest that was never there and if his experience of reading self-insert fan-fiction is true (or even Isekai manga for that matter) then that book led to some clues.

Something, or someone, brought him here.

Of course, that was obvious. There was no way he would just wake up in a fictional world for no reason and no higher power had transported him. It would be insane. And if that was the case, why WAS he taken here? As Rantaro Amami and not his old self?

It wasn't the good old, 'I got sucked into my video game' scenario of the olden times. He didn't have Danganronpa V3 Killing Harmony at all, the only things he's seen of it was on Youtube Let's Plays and fan-works. That that was off the list. Plus that wouldn't really explain the changes around the academy.

...Then it had something to do why he was missing recent memories.

Monotaro snuggled in closer onto his chest, a light snore escaping his maw. He had come into his room about ten minutes ago, remembering that he never actually locked his door (even though he swore he did lock the door... And tried to open it multiple times).

He didn't really pay attention at first, he was too busy trying to not have a heart attack from his situation and figuring out how the hell he was supposed to get out but now that he's had time to himself and recently been able to clear his head-

A small portion of his memories was missing. All he remembered was talking to his friend, something like an argument over something he did which was rather terrible, then next thing he knew he found himself in a locker here.

An angry conversation, then suddenly cut off like a badly edited video.

Then, it was his name, his old one.

He couldn't remember it at all.

Every memory he had with his name, either all blurred or bleeped out like the mere mention of it was the greatest taboo man had ever gone against.

Why? Why was his name completely missing?

He frowned, looking over the deciphered words he wrote in his book. He did a decent job, thankfully the deciphering on some of the sentences was quite easy since the lettering scramble was quite tame. He quietly began to read the crude sentences aloud.

"'Many theories on dimension travel... However one of the most popular is the one involving ECD and the...Stream. It connects with the Infinite Universe, Infinite Possibilities theory because of... Alternate worlds? All connected by a stream?'" He tapped his book before continuing. "There is infinite versions of a single world, all with differences ranging from a single person's hair colour and... To a world-changing its dominant species? And the strange occurrence of alternate magic having different effects in alternate planes all because the world cannot understand it, therefore cannot register it.'"

'Magic, like actual magic that mages cast?'

Himiko would have a blast if she learned this, hopefully not ones in the explosion category. He's watched Konosuba, he knows the mayhem that'll occur if anyone gains that sort of magic.

The next parts were slightly less coherent.

"'Of course with alternate worlds, there is always an original. The original might be..." He currently couldn't read that part. "Completely unheard of to others but may sound familiar to others due to a very interesting fact these worlds all have one thing in common. They are all based on fiction originating from other worlds."

And that was all he was able to decipher. It was interesting, however, it didn't tell him about his situation. He wouldn't put his trust in a random book, but he's willing to put some sort of faith into it considering his condition right now.

'Maybe I was... Transported by this stream?"

It was all so supernatural like. Fantasy even. He really was transported to another world in the end.

"So, did I die in the end?"

He didn't know, he didn't know, he didn't know.

He couldn't help repeatedly tap the heel of his foot on his bed, with each tap getting louder until he full on slammed it against his bed in frustration. The key card on his bed falling off, a card he a had a strange suspicion he knew it was for.

(It rang loudly. He felt like he KNEW exactly what it was.)

He was frustrated and tired.

He wanted to sleep.

NEEDED to sleep.

Without thinking, he threw the book to the other side of the room. He immediately undid her blanket, stripped off all of his clothes and took Monotaro into his arms as he got comfy and prepared to sleep.

'If I destroy Motherkuma and Monokuma tomorrow, we don't have to worry about the countdown anymore from the day after...'

His eyes glowed a darker green.

'No one will interfere. I will make sure no one gets killed because of me. I will die before then.'

...

"I...Will die before then."

...

"I...Will...Die..."

Slumber finally took him.

* * *

"Rantaro! Wake up, the morning announcement was like ten minutes ago and we need to have a talk about something. Your not gonna come out naked again and scare poor Tsumugi again right?"

The girl in question just tilted her head numbly, wobbling a bit on her legs with a startled yet distant look on her face. She stared at him for a few moments, 'oh'd' in realisation and continue to exit the dormitory.

"...Weirdo weeb." Kokichi brushed her strange demeanour off and continued to knock on the door.

Everyone had already left as far as he was aware. He knew Angie was praying to Atua somewhere, Kaito had followed Gonta to conduct some planning, Himiko was reluctantly hanging out with Tenko, and Maki and Ryoma had fucked off somewhere.

They were going to all have those breakfast meetings, and he would taste that delicious goodness that comes from Muterumi once more.

Kokichi frowned at the lack of response, did he already leave?

And just as he was about to give up, a click from the lock and the movement of the door being pushed made him sigh in relief and fake amusement at his lateness.

"There you are." Kokichi began. "Come on, I wanna talk and eat with you, we gotta keep up the charade of boyfriends before-" And out of the door came a tired Monotaro. The red and white bear rubbed his ears tiredly, barely taking note of Kokichi as his disgusted face twisted into a frown. "Oh? Hello, brat bear." He mockingly smiled. "Where're your pops?"

"Father?" Monotaro muttered before letting out a mighty yawn. His fans had never felt so clean before! Did that scary blonde lady help his circuits and fix his fan? If so that was amazing to him. "He... Left earlier I think. Before uncle's announcement."

"Before?"

"I think..?" Monotaro tried to rack his brain to remember. "He looked like he was in some strange trance, he was muttering something about... What was it? Oh! He kept repeating something about 'dying before then', I think? He was really out of it, he looked pretty tired."

"Dying before... Then?" Kokichi frowned. "Dying before when?"

"...I... Don't know... I think he said he was going to the toilet."

"The toilets, other than the obvious buisness, why else would he need to go-"

...

"Oh no..."

He wasn't actually going to do something so stupid and suicidal-

"Hey, Monotaro, can you come with me for a sec?"

* * *

 _"Hmmm... Let's turn that off and turn this on now, shall we? Don't want Ranran killing himself just yet!"_

* * *

The path had gotten greener as he walked down the hallway, barely lit up from the light he snagged from Miu in her lab, who was still asleep, filled with thick foliage and blades of thin grass, he even heard a faint chirp of a cricket of all things...

'There are bugs down here now?'

The nausea was running him down, with each step he took into the Secret Room, his brain would start to conjure up every wrong possibility that could happen, from the potential alarms and the thought of Tsumugi coming up from behind and taking him by surprise. His grip had tightened around the handle of his knife, while his other hand fiddled with the switch for the EMP grenade.

Overcome by a sudden strong sense of responsibility, Rantaro was able to expel the negative thoughts and with a deep breathe, continued onward.

The way was dark, so dark. And it smelt... Strange. It smelt like rotten egg.

Sulphur. It smelt very much like sulphur.

'Was this where the sulphur is being shipped off to?'

Why didn't he smell this before?

And before he even knew it, he found himself at the same large metal door from before, which looked more like a part of a metal vault if anything, overtaken by vines and branches. His eyes narrowed, he knew something was very, very wrong here. There was the card slot next to it, still filled with dust, meaning no one had used it.

He opened it with the card given to him, and after the door opened up as it destroyed the plant life that still clung to it desperately-

He was in the Secret Room.

It almost looked like how it did in the game, it looked disturbingly out of place with the purple-tinted black and white checkered floor and the purple lights above giving it the tint, with its red cube like pillars decorated with hearts and flowers near the stage area. However it seemed like nature was taking over as the place was completely covered in plant life, there were even small trees growing here, one of which had wrapped around one of the pillars.

There seemed to be piles of metal scrap tossed into the corners of the room like yesterdays garbage, some of which had the shape of busted Monokuma's and even more of them had a moss like material encasing it. A quiet sound of what sounded like a generator was whirring in the background, barely piercing the silence in the room where no music had played. And in the centre of the room...

Were a bunch of chairs and a couple of tables, all covered in patches of moss and flowers with the exception of a table, which looked burnt on closer inspection.

A table that was relatively small, and on closer inspection, had a bunch of machinery parts, a syringe with a needle, a high tech looking microscope and a pile of blueprints. The microscope had a petri dish inserted under the scope, which contained a neon pink liquid, blood, he realised.

There was also a mechanical... Something. It looked like a thick metal arm with a thin needle in the palm surrounded by multiple long finger-like... Things.

'God damn it... What was it called? One of that sci-fi, high tech prosthetic arms used for fixing and engineering?"

He couldn't remember.

There was another petri dish, placed carefully on top of a piece of cloth and filled with a transparent liquid. Unsure of what exactly he was looking at, he went to the blueprints.

'Is that a vir- wait no, a bacteriophage?'

The prints had, strangely enough, images of bacteriophages, each had various amounts of detail written down in small text in a language he didn't recognise. The drawings ranged from the Petri dishes, the bacteriophages, some images that looked like it came from an infrared camera, along with adorable drawings of Monokuma, Usami, Kurokuma, Shirokuma and the Monokubs.

'Weird'.

However one of the images depicted an over a dozen of the bacteriophages within a petri dish, next to another image of the dish with the blood coloured in pink. Unlike the other images, there was no form of writing near it at all. There was, however, a green tick.

He stared at both Petri dishes, almost like his eyes were drawn to them by some strange force.

A strange curiosity overtook him, the one with the transparent liquid made him feel... Unnerved. He had no idea why but just looking at it made his ends stand on end and made him feel like his blood was curdling, which was a sickening thought and why was he thinking that?

His gazed shifted to the blood, then back to the liquid.

...There was some other blueprints, one of them depicted a strange orb shape machine with a light blue core, however another blueprint that caught his attention from the corner of his eye, mostly because it was in English and had a drawing of a megaphone on it. So after doing a quick skim, he began to read it out loud, albeit quietly.

 _"Despite my overall experience in hacking and engineering, and with the main servers having all memory and the rather limited data extracted, recreating the Hacking Gun from scratch has been far more difficult from what its worth." He paused before continuing. "Making a simple Monokuma is easy, as there are so many blueprints for each type and there are saved copies of the original AI, but the Hacking Gun itself is far too complex and that baffles me completely. It was far too difficult, then I looked into the blueprints a little more and figured out why."_

'Oh?'

 _"The gun can only affect Towa equipment with special information interference bullets, that much I gathered when collecting data. However actually collecting the specific data and compacting into a solid form is far more sci-fi then it should be. Then when it comes to the gun the capsules and the bullet chamber have to be in top-notch condition to work, even then firing doesn't want to work and just self destructs upon itself. The only bullets I was able to recreate and use at the point in time are 'Dance' and 'Move'. While I may be able to implement 'Break' soon, the chances of finishing the gun before the game officially begins is slim, so unless I'm willing to leave the bullets as is and just focus on getting the gun to work I will not be able to use this as the 'Pushing Motive'."_

'The Pushing Motive?"

Was Tsumugi trying to recreate a Hacking Gun? But that didn't make sense at all, couldn't she just ask for one from Team Danganronpa?

Something didn't add up though...

 _"Apparently there are still some leftovers of the 'Mythical Creature Ark' that Nurture and Rose were supposed to look over before they got moved to the recording department due to a lack of staff. While I shouldn't really prod around with precious, and rather law breaking equipment, I shouldn't really get into too much trouble if I use it on one of the students. Plus, this place is about to be cut off soon, they won't notice the missing equipment or the ECD, seeing as there are far too many to even keep account of right now. Then it really comes down to the one question:"_

"Who is the lucky student to become inhuman?"

...What?

The first thoughts that came to Rantaro's mind were, 'This sounds like a really weird mix of fantasy and sci-fi', and 'Then where is this Hacking Gun?', then far too many other questions came to mind, some that he realised the answers to not even a second later.

Then Tsumugi was-

...

'I'll deactivate the source first before I properly inspect this.'

And so he left it alone, for now at the very least.

And on another one of those tables, was a small Monopad looking device, turned on. On another table was a strange device he recognised somewhat hidden under a piece of cloth. He went over to the table and lifted up the cloth, which felt as soft as silk and tickled his fingertips, revealing the device underneath.

It was the Monokuma Controller, the same one from Another Episode. However, there was a slight difference in the colour scheme as it seemed to somewhat lighter than the original, and had a small antenna perched on top, along with six circular buttons placed on each side. He wiped the screen of the faint dust, wincing and nearly dropping the controller as the screen suddenly came to life in a white flash.

The screen flickered for a moment before it came to a brief loading screen before it even came to a menu. A label popped up right next to each button each having the words MK, JM, BM, BEM, BOM, and NEXT with each corresponding button. Whatever MK or BEM meant was lost on him.

Rantaro was hesitant, should he mess around with it?

...

He pressed a button. Whatever the button was, took him to another screen which also took a few seconds to load.

 **Bzzzt!**

 **Loading Monokuma Unit...**

A small whirring sound suddenly started up from a segment in the room, a large object from the other end of the room glowed red underneath another much larger sheet before stopping. Behind the covered object, a shaft-like construction rattled violently before stopping and spat out a small machine.

But it wasn't a machine. It was a Monokuma, a decently large one at that.

And it wasn't just any decently large Monokuma. It had a green bulletproof vest and a green helmet neatly placed on its head, along with a silver container strapped to it's back filled to the brim with explosives.

It was...

 **BOMBER MONOKUMA!**

It's grin stretched out, revealing its razor-sharp teeth that was quite clearly designed to tear and kill, it's red eye glowed as soon as it saw him.

"Upupupu! Troubling!"

"Shit!" That was the last thing he wanted.

The Bomber Monokuma blinked and shuffled, the bag of explosives rattling with each small movement causing great anxiety and fear in his heart, looking around a little before its eyes landed on Rantaro. However, instead of attacking like he thought it would, it merely saluted.

"Bomber Monokuma, reporting for duty sir!"

"Huh?

Bomber didn't respond and merely began to bob up and down on its feet, humming Mr Monokuma's Tutoring without a care in the world.

Rantaro looked at the Monokuma in surprise. Was it not attacking him because of the controller?

...He pressed another button, followed by another one.

 **Bzzzt!**

 **Loading Monokuma Unit...**

 **Bzzzt!**

 **Loading Monokuma Unit...**

The sheet covered object glowed again, following by the same rattling from the shaft before spitting out another Monokuma. This time a Guard Monokuma and a Siren Monokuma came out, which saluted him and began to casually dance.

 **GUARD MONOKUMA!**

 **SIREN MONOKUMA!**

"Guard Monokuma reporting for duty sir!"

"SIREN MONOKUMA, REPORTING FOR DUTY SIR!"

He winced at the Siren Monokuma, who's voice was much louder than the others. '...Okay, that's a tad odd.'

"Why is there a controller in the first place," He muttered. It didn't make sense, couldn't Tsumugi just use voice recognition to spawn Monokuma's? "And why does it include these types as well?" His eyes rested onto a sheet covered object with a large 'Out of order!' sign, causing his eyes to narrow in half realisation and confusion before he went over and took the sheet off in one fell swoop.

'Bingo.'

"Well geez, took you long enough buddy."

The Motherkuma head on the centre of the stage, inside that same glass barrier filled with a strange liquid and connected to dozens of wires leading to somewhere. The red eye on the head was dull compared to its normal eye, located within a twisted and warped mass of metals and wires that glowed an ominous blue.

"You're not even supposed to be here." If it had a brow it would have definitely raised it. "You have to follow the script y'know? Otherwise, the Mastermind isn't going to be pleased." As Rantaro neared the head, fiddling with the grenade, Motherkuma chuckled. "Are you going to kill me?"

"I have no reason not to." Rantaro tapped his nails against the glass. "The academy is already in shambles, most of the security measures are gone, and the only one who is preventing us to escape is Monokuma, and after you're gone we can get rid of Monokuma and get out of here."

'I Will die before them.'

"Guess you've thought this up to a T huh then?!" The Motherkuma suddenly snapped, it's previously carefree tone gone and its voice now filled with barely concealed anger. "Rantaro Amami, you were supposed to be the first to die, you were supposed to follow the script that was burned into your memory. But you didn't. And I have an inkling as to why."

"What-"

The Monopad on the table emitted a sound, similar to someone trying to strangle static. Whatever was on the screen was gone, instead, it was replaced by walls of text and images. Rantaro looked at what was on it, blinking when he realised that the walls of text were the whole entire script, the whole script for Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony.

And then it changed. And no longer was there a wall of text on the screen.

In its place were a few lines of text, text in another language that he couldn't read.

"You've all have changed. None are you are following the script as you should be, and thanks to my state of the art hacking, I know why." It's red eye flickered. "The intruder had completely erased the plot and changed up your personalities. Now there is no plot to follow."

'...Eh?'

"Wait, hold on, give me a second here." The sudden information was overwhelming for him, all he wanted to do was deactivate the Motherkuma and kill Monokuma, why was this happening now?!"What do you mean the plot was erased?"

"I mean the plot was erased, you weed smoking hippie!" Motherkuma growled. "There is no plot to follow, and with how most are you are different, I wouldn't be surprised if the plot is writing itself as it goes and no one is actively supervising it. Tell me, did you notice the Nanokuma's?"

"...No?" Where was it going with this? "Do you mean if-"

"My precious baby Nanokuma's are gone, along with communications! The system won't let me spawn any more of my Nanokuma's! None of us can stop the Killing Game anymore."

"So-"

"And if no one is watching, then the Killing Game is just mindless killing, no one important is being entertained other than us. We can't bring out the despair, and the money, to it's fullest potential if no one is watching."

"And if the audience-"

"And you!"

Suddenly the lights dimmed, the wires leading into the Motherkuma's head sparked and twitched, almost like he was watching a moving muscle, like an orgy of snakes.

"You, are not Rantaro Amami."

"What?"

It's voice, once another Monokuma voice, had changed. It sounded feminine, yet awfully robotic and awfully unfamiliar.

"Not even you're personality, you're genetic structure has changed and is still being altered. Different hormones are being produced at higher rates than it normally should for a healthy male, muscle and other tissue are slowly developing around the chest-" It paused. "Oh? So it's already taken effect? The RO-"

And then all of a sudden it had stopped. Its eyes flickered before shutting off. All of the lights in the turned completely off, leaving nothing around other than a thick cover of darkness and the glowing red eyes of the Monokuma's. It was completely silent, he couldn't hear anything.

Except, for the quiet echo of shoes walking across marble the floor.

"...Shit."

He didn't move, fearing he would alert his presence to what was most likely Tsumugi. The other Monokuma's covered their red glowing eye, seemingly aware of what's going on. The footsteps had started to become louder, more spaced apart as if the person was uncertain and scared as if they were unsure if it was a good idea to continue.

Then the footsteps stopped, with the only noise belonging to the mystery person's heavy and almost frightened breathing. Ever so carefully, trying his best to not to make too much noise, he strapped the EMP to his waist and took out his still sheathed knife. He tried to think, still overwhelmed from what the hell just happened and the information from the Motherkuma still stuck in his brain like a bad memory.

'So no one is actually watching this?'

No audience, yet the game is still continuing.

'There's no plot, no script for us to follow?'

Yet it was confirmed that personalities have been changed, but how? You couldn't just change a personality like-

That...

'...I am such a fucking idiot, of course, the Flashback Lights!'

How did he forget about something like that? He felt like punching himself in the face, forgetting the most obvious answer to his classmate's personality tweaks. Something so damn important-

 _Tap. Tap._

He had to figure this out fast, but unfortunately, he had something to deal with first.

His thumb pushed itself against the sheath, seeing how easily it slides off he nodded to himself out of habit. Of course, the plan for his guest was incredibly flimsy as he has never had proper combat training or experience before (he had carving experience, but that really wasn't useful in a fight, but if he did it right...)

He needed to know the truth. If it was what he thought it was then everyone was in a lot more trouble than realised.

An electrical buzz made itself apparent in the room, and before anyone knew it the lights flickered back to life, and he could see again.

Just in time to see Tsumugi Shirogane yell as a gloved hand grabbed her hair, pulling her back and pushing a deadly looking knife against her neck and ready to slit her throat.

"Hey, WAIT!"

"R-Rantaro?!"

"..?"

Before the other guest could finish the job, Rantaro's panicked scream had stopped them in their tracks, a confused gasp escaped their mouth, but their red eyes still practically glowed and their pigtails flowed in the air like they belonged to an inhuman being, the knife still pressed near Tsumugi's throat.

It was clear that Maki Harukawa was not expecting this.

The three Monokuma's red eyes flashed at the intruder, their mouths warping into twisted grins, but didn't do anything much to Rantaro's relief.

All three of them stayed silent, Maki looked at him with half confusion and half determination and Rantaro looked back with his own eyes cautious and nervous. Tsumugi looked forward, fear and panic on her face as her heartbeat accelerated, her breathing short and fast as she slowly nearing a panic attack. The danger was activating her adrenaline, her body begged her to get away, yet what was left of her logical mind in the panic kept her in place, as one wrong move would get her killed.

Why?

Maki, her grip on her hair still strong, glared at him with eyes still glowing. "...Why are you here?!"

"I should be asking you that Maki. And Tsumugi too."

"Tsumugi is the Mastermind." She eyed the other Monokuma's with caution in her eyes, her hairs on end like a threatened animal.

He raised a brow, did she assume that because she saw Tsumugi go through a secret passage or was it something else? But she sounded so confident.

"How do you know?"

"Ara? So many people here so soon, in the first chapter nevertheless?"

The Motherkuma's voice made him jump, surprised to see the thing back to life and it's voice back to normal. This made the Motherkuma laugh. "Sorry about that, electricity isn't working properly. Anyway... Is Tsumugi the Mastermind? Is she the one behind all of you're misery? Guess you'll have no clue until you kill her! Of course, there is a way to find out, but I doubt someone of your meagre intelligence could understand."

"Excuse me?"

"You're being awfully helpful for something working for the Mastermind..."

'Especially so early."

"True, true. However, due to complications, I have to be helpful now. You're not the only ones in the dark here after all." Motherkuma sighed. "I wish I could act like the script wants me too, but with no script for me to follow I just have to make due."

"...Hey, answer a few questions for me would you." Rantaro asked.

"Oh, sure thing my precious student."

"Is the intruder the one who changed the plot? And are they the one who changed everyone else's personalities?"

"According to the evidence of the reports, little old me has to agree." Motherkuma sighed. "I'm pretty sure the two of you freaks are aware of the Flashback lights?"

"F- Flashback..?" Tsumugi whimpered, confused and still extremely scared.

Maki's eye's narrowed, bearing her teeth like an aggressive dog. "Were they..."

"Used on pretty much every student here to change their backstories, part of their personality, etc? Yes." The machine finished. "Our little intruder seems to have been aware on how to alter the Flashback Lights before they even arrived here in the first place. And that part baffles me. But what baffled the most was the status of two particular students."

"..."

"Maki?"

"Well, well, looks like dear Maki Roll has gotten the jist of it." It laughed, catching the disturbed and murderous expression on Maki's face. "Two particular students according to the character script are blank slates, and after some hacking into the camera's, and digging up what data I could, I know why." Motherkuma's mouth groaned as it shifted into a larger grin. "Curious how Maki Harukawa and Kokichi Ouma remember the original script as ifl they had experienced it themselves. Like they were looping through time."

"What?"

"Kokichi..?"

Maki hissed, pulling harder on Tsumugi's hair which caused her to yell as more tears threatened to fall down her eyes. She turned her attention to Rantaro. "And what about Rantaro? He seems to know too much for a regular student."

"Heck if I know. According to what's left of his script he's supposed to be the exact same as before, well with the exception of being the **Ultimate Confectioner** instead but that's not that important."

"Wait a minute, let me process this for a second." Rantaro took in a deep breath and exhaled.

'As...Before?' Strange, why 'as before?'

"Maki are you actually a time looper?"

"..."

"Please, I need to know."

"...Are you?"

'Holy shit.'

He couldn't believe this was actually happening. At first it was Kokichi, now Maki was one too?!

"Yes, I mean, I remember everything before I was killed in the Library."

"By Tsumugi, who framed Kaede and continued the Killing Game."

"W-Wait!" Tsumugi whimpered. "What are you talking about?! I'm not the Mastermind!"

"Are you sure-"

"Maki, hold on for a second. Motherkuma, can you spawn a Monokuma?"

"Sure I can! But you can't just tell me to spawn a Mono-"

"Birth a new Monokuma."

"Nope!"

Maki blinked, a look of surprise on her face which quickly turned into a mix of suspicion and realisation. "...Birth a new Monokuma."

"Nada!"

"Tsumugi?"

"Wh-What?"

"Can you say 'birth a new Monokuma'?"

"W...W- Why?!"

"Please." Rantaro begged. "We need you to say it as well, this will confirm if you're the Mastermind or not, so if you-"

"BIRTH A NEW MONOKUMA!"

Her desperate and terrified screamed was quickly followed by silence. Both Maki and Rantaro were expecting something to happen, something like the whirring of machines, or Motherkuma to say something like 'voice recognised, birthing Monokuma'.

But nothing happened.

"Hahahaha!" Motherkuma laughed. "I guess Tsumugi isn't the Mastermind then? And it seems like little Rantaro may be defying the script in some way if you already knew the secret phrase."

A loud gasp of relief came from Tsumugi as Maki hesitantly removed the knife away from her throat, the suspense and relief caused the cosplayer to collapse to her knees, loud barely controlled sobs escaping her mouth. The assassin merely kneeled down next to her, stroking her back and muttering small, half-hearted sounding apologies.

Maki seemed more kind he guessed, however, Rantaro wasn't entirely sure if Maki should be comforting Tsumugi as she nearly took her life not even five minutes ago.

Rantaro frowned, his suspicions confirmed. He was still reeling from everything that has happened in the past few minutes, it was difficult for his brain to process properly. Maki was also a looper? The Mastermind isn't Tsumugi? And what was the Motherkuma talking about when it mentioned his genetics were changing? He was properly confused, even with suspicions being cleared. "So... Is the intruder the Mastermind then?"

And out of nowhere ...

 **"DUE TO ISSUES WITH THE SYSTEM MOTHERKUMA WILL NOW BE SHUTTING DOWN, PLEASE HALT DANGAN- ERROR! LEVEL #"?%! VIRUS HAS BEEN DETECTED, PLEASE SHUT DOWN THE DANGANŖ̸͈͔̠̯͈̮O̡̘̜̟͈͇̹̩Ṇ͚̗̰̼Ṕ̩̰̠̗̗̼̙̜͞A̦͇ ̥͖̩͓͎͚̜S̙͖͎̘͟E̴̹͖̬̞̝͍̕R̜͇̰̗͚V̟E̲̻̥̠͔̰͘͢Ŕ̵̡̙͎̟̩̠̱͙̬S͓͙͔͔̳̬ ͢͏̫̠Á͎̲̘̥͢N̴̷̯̙͢D̜ ͓̯̲̙̲̰͞A̸̦͓̰̘͢L̙͍͍̘̩̺̗̰̩͘L̻̟̤͟͢͠ ̬͔̗͍͔̙Ȩ͚̺̘̼̤Q͔̺̪͎̬ͅÚ̡̗̖͙͕͕̦ͅI͎̟̫̩͍̫̳͢͠P̵͖̥͍̘̗͍̟̙͡M̶͈̩͕̱̳̯̗È̙̬̰̺̘̠̤͖͟N̜̠̙̲̜̖Ţ̦̠̗̣̪́͞ ̵̰̼̲̰̺̞͚̕A͖̱̥̰͓̠̲͘͜Ṣ̢̡͇̤͉̣̗̟̟ͅŞ̼̪̝͜O͎̖͖͓͟͢͡C̶̷̻͈͢I̙̪̥̭̲̮̬͢Ą̻̱̺̘̰́͞T͈̳̬͇́͞E̯̯͖͔̟̣̭̪͞D̫̪̪̭̤̹̙̮͎ ҉̝̰̩͕͖̬̜̣̭W͇̣͇͖͡I̻͓͔͓̲̠ͅT̵̨̩̺̺̟ͅH̲̬̀͟ ̸͔͎͚̗̩̯T̷̪̹̞ͅH̵̦͕͉͇͘I̗S̸̠̮̻̠̯͎̻̠ ̶̷̡̗̟̻͇͔Ś̡̹E̴̴̢̹À͔̲͖S̮̳̤̘͓̲͍̲̞͡O̰̣͠N̢̬͉̕ ̳̝͕̥̠́O͖̻̳͍̣̟̙͝F̛̭̳͠ ̵̟͍̲̞̬͚̣̺D̡̼̟̥R̝̯̞͇̤̲ ̵̗̝̣͓̟̤͖̻̼͡B̵҉̲̫͎͇E͕̰̼̪͔̕͞F̢͇͖̻̠̮O̳͚̙̠̣͚̭̦R͚̩̦E̵̢̺͚̼ ́͏̨̼̭F̤͓̬́U̡̙͚̩̳͢R̶̨̻̪̬T̴̥̻̖̫̘͉H̻̟̥̰̻̱̥E̵͍͖͇͟͠ͅR͍̹̳̟̥̕͝͞ ͇̱C҉͍͖̹͓̭̹O҉̫͖̗̰ͅN̗͎̜͈̝̹̭̪̼͝Ṭ̶̴͓͖̙̼̩̱̭́A̵̤̮̺̘M͉̗̻͙I͙͖̟̣͍͙̬͟N̬̠̕A̴̳͎̜͈̮̭̮̯T̶̠̺͜I̹̯̪͔̲͙ͅÒ̞̭̞̼N̝͚̙̜̙̜͟!͏҉̮͎̗͙ ͓͈̦͙̬̕I̼͙͈̤̲̭̱͠ ͕R̵̷̙̜̯̠̬̬̜̟E̸͙̯̪̠̠̮P҉͔͕̳̥̹̟Ę̶͕̝̯͈̪͇̠̫̣͟A̸̲̳̰͚͎̱T̴̡̠̠̞̠͖̲͎.̶̟̟̝̗̰̥̣.͏҉͏̦.̢̝̯̟̝̙̰̝̱ ̶̙̲̺P̣̠͈L̠̰͓̬E̡͔̗̩A̵̳̪̜͡S̮̤̀È̟͘S̸̨̗̫̭̖̞͙̞͡H̨͇̪̹Ụ̵̭͘T̵̬̀̕D͟͏̬͓̮̳̹̹̠̼O̴̡͏̰̩̪̭͓W̺̣N̛͔̠̗̤̻̦͙͘͜A̷̶͚̫͓̮͝L̯͠L҉̣̮̪̱́D̨̲̠̻͢A̝̖͙̟̫N̢͓͠G̢̣͚͔͠A̵͎̞̙̰͢Ņ̡̞͙̹̫͚̫̦̲̕R̺̭̫̯̮̩͇͙͘Ó̢̞̼̯̱̲N̫̦̖̮͍͓͖̮͠P̰̠̣͝ͅA̖͙Ş̜̳̩̤̦̘E̵̬R̶̡̳̼̙͔̼V̷͎̣̣͎̭E̸̫͙̩͍̫R̸͉̣̺̮̕S̝̭̫̭̗͟͞͡A̱̰̣̦̯̺͎͝N̶̻̬̗̖͇̼̕ͅͅD̹͕͕͜͝Į̬̲̰̟̬͞H̛͜͏̳̟͎͙̼O̼͈̗̠͎̞̪P̵̭͔̟͖̜͇̯̭͠E̵̞̘̕Y̸̯̯̜͞O̝͔̞̥̦̺̣̝͟͞U̡͍͓̣͘Á̜̩͔L̢̟̩̗̞͕͡L̢͏͚̣̺̘͓H̶̞̦͚̳͙̯͍́͟Á̩̲͓̠ͅV҉̠͓͖͔̖̠̖̱E̗̘ͅA̠͎̭͈̟͢Ń̵͓̖͍Į̪ͅC̦̺͎̳̰͎̙E͚̰͇̰̼͠D̖̻ͅA̭͈̯͍͇̼̼̖͞Y̲͍̺̥̭͘!"**

Then Motherkuma began to spit out sped up cobbled up gibberish like someone was fast forwarding a broken tape, its red eye flashing rapidly before it completely stopped, now taking on an olive green colouration, the metal pieces and gears groaning and bending like a robot experiencing severe body horror.

"Maybe, maybe not," Motherkuma said innocently, it's voice once again feminine and it's now green eye continued to flash rapidly. "But... I'm afraid I can't tell you much more."

"Why?!"

"Because... Puhuhuhu. The Killing Game is still in effect."

"What? Isn't that even more reason to tell us if you're also in the dark?"

"Plans changed sweetie, and I'm afraid that dear Motherkuma won't be helping you out after all. ̢͢͢҉I̴͢ ̸̡̀͢c̢͟a̷̕͠͠n͢͝͝'̵̡͘t̨͟͡ ̨̕͝͡͏h̕҉҉͟͜á̛͘v̵̡͘̕͠e̵̡̛ ͜͏͏̸ý̷̢͜͞ơ̵u̷̡͡ ͢͠r̴u͟͞i̵̧͝n̡̢͘͝i̵͜͠n̕͢͡͝g̶̛͟͝ ̶̢͟M̧Y͜͟ ̶͢͠K̸̸̷͜͝i̶̶ĺ̸̷l̵̕͟͝i͏ǹ̸͘g̛̀͟ ̴͞͝G͏̨͏̨͘ą́͠m̡e̸͞ ͏͏͘a̵̛̕f͜͏̶͘͟t̴̡̨e̡͟r̶̛͟ ͟a̵̛l̢͏̛l̢͡.̀͘͘

The last sentence was completely overlapped by the static, and Rantaro didn't have much time to think or react as suddenly one of the wires had reached out to him as if it had a mind of its own, grabbing him by the wrists. He yelped as he was thrown onto the floor like a rag doll, nearly knocking him unconscious as more wires attempted to grab and surround him. However Maki reacted fast, she immediately ran over and began to pull away from the wires with almost supernatural speed, she hissed, cutting away any of the wires that tried to reach for her. The Monokuma's followed suit quickly rushed over to help to her surprise but didn't pay it much heed.

And apparently Tsumugi had snapped out of her shock caused by her near assassination, and she herself had also begun tear off the wires the best she could, not achieving much results compared to Maki and the other Monokuma's. At this point, Rantaro was almost completely covered in wire. He felt suffocated, and as the wires tightened with each one removed and torn and twice the number took one's place. It was starting to cut into his skin. He felt pain, stinging pain.

Pain.

Pain.

Fear.

'I'm going to die, Imgonnadie, Imgonnadie, ImgonnadieImgonnadieImgonnadieImgonnadieImgonnadieImgonnadieImgonnadieImgonnadieImgonnadie-'

 **Crack!**

One of the wires smashed into the glass jar Motherkuma was contained in, causing the whole thing to shatter as more wires joined in. The mass of wires retreated from Rantaro's body, leaving the controller alone in his hands and one of them with the EMP grenade in tow. It pressed the button, and to his and Maki's surprise-

The wire shoved it into the Motherkuma's head.

A bright white light shone from the sockets of the head, the circuits and all of the electrical devices in the room either short-circuited or promptly shut down. They all covered their heads as the lights above blew up, sending hot plastic and glass down below.

Multiple heavy thuds sounded out, as well as the quiet whirring of a generator dying down, but none of them really noticed.

Motherkuma was silent, gone.

And just like that, it was over. Motherkuma had been shut down for good.

No more Monokuma's.

But the other Monokuma's he spawned were still active and were now hopping on their feet once more, now seemingly on standby. Their red eyes flickered for a moment before becoming brighter, all with all three of them combined lit up the majority of the room in a calm red.

Rantaro did what he came here for, but now he regrets even coming here in the first place.

But why? He was going to save everyone, why did he regret nearly dying for them?

"Was... Was that it then?" Rantaro questioned, tired and still in pain from the wires, trying to ignore the obvious marks across his skin. The Siren Monokuma waddled over to him, lifting him up so he was sitting up. It patted his head, seemingly pleased.

Maki looked at him, an emotion on her face he couldn't identify. "Was your plan to kill Motherkuma so you could get rid of Monokuma for good?"

"Basically. With no proper security measures I could easily take down the Motherkuma and Monokuma afterwards before he could even use the Spears of Gungnir, and with no Exisals the Monokubs can't do anything else. A better plan than before right?"

"Maybe, but that was still incredibly dangerous..." Her eyes narrowed. "How did you even know the phrase to birth Monokuma's anyway? And how did you know about Motherkuma? And what's with these ones?"

'Shit.'

"Hold- Hold on!"

Rantaro had almost forgotten Tsumugi was still here, and the girl had tears running down her face from her near death experience. She coughed, her cheeks and eyes red from the tears and her nostrils covered in nasty snot. "What, what are you guys talking about?! What do you mean time looping?!" She hiccuped. "Why did you try to kill me Maki?! Why did you think I was the Mastermind?! Why, why-" She broke down onto the floor, sobbing, "WHY?! WHAT DID I DO?!"

He winced, a feeling of guilt overtook him despite the fact he didn't really do anything. Maki just stared at her, there was slight guilt in her eyes as well, despite her stone cold face. She opened her mouth-

 **Ding Dong! Dong Ding!**

Only to be interrupted by the sound of the oh-so-familiar bells of the school announcement.

And then the monitor, the Monokuma styled one hanging from one of the pillars suddenly burst to life. For some reason, it was completely unaffected by the EMP and was still working completely fine. On the screen was none other than Monokuma, a glass of fizzy champagne in his paw and a desk with sushi on top.

 **"A body has been discovered! Everyone, please gather in the library!**

And then the screen turned to black and all normal as if it didn't just drop extremely important news.

"...Huh, wait, what?"

'Why?! It's far too early for something like this to happen!'

They all stared at the monitor, expressions mixing from shock and fear. Tsumugi squirmed and whimpered in fear as Maki and Rantaro made eye contact. A silent truce was made a few seconds later before they both nodded.

"Let's go."

* * *

"Crud. The doors closed?!"

They all had headed through the passageway that headed to the library, all in silence despite the rush and the darkness surrounding them due to the EMP cutting off the power source of the lights (which may have been the Motherkuma, seeing as that seemed to have been the only thing affected). However, the door was still closed, unsurprising since they all came into the secret room through the girl's toilet.

Maki went up to the door and smacked her hand against it, the strength made the door rattle somewhat. She frowned, confused. "It's not properly in place."

"It isn't? Doesn't it need a pass to even open?"

"Yes, but the door-"

"W-Whats that noise?!"

Her eyes widened as Kaito's voice rumbled past the plate. She slapped the plate again, producing the same sound. "Kaito!"

"M-Maki?!"

"Maki's a ghost?!"

"Is she behind the bookcase?"

"Hey!" Rantaro yelled. "Can you move the bookcase?!"

"Rantaro as wel- hey- Kaede, Shuichi, what are you-"

A loud rumbling echoed behind the metal plate, followed by a few gasps of shock and the sound of something large and heavy being dragged across a wooden floor. More thudding came from behind the door, followed by grunts of annoyance. Shuichi's voiced called out. "Why is the card reader- Kaede! It's broken!

"What?! When did that-" She growled in annoyance. "We can't open it. How did you two get in there?!"

"We'll tell you later! Can you guys stand away from the door?" Rantaro called out. He turned to both Maki and Tsumugi. "Hey, stand back a bit as well, I'm gonna blow this up."

"H-Huh?!"

"Move it Tsumugi."

"But-"

"Do you want to die?"

He pressed a button on the controller, which now showed a diagram of the Bomber Monokuma and the Guard Monokuma. He pressed a few more buttons-

"Upupupu. Got it boss!"

The Guard and Bomber Monokuma squeezed past the trio, with the Siren Monokuma hanging back. The Guard stood behind the Bomber with its shield raised as the Bomber took out a few of its miniature bombs before placing them in front of the door and retreating behind the guard. The Bomber stood back a few steps behind the Guard and trio, taking out a remote switch with a big red button with a skull etched on.

"Everyone, get away!"

It held up a paw-

"3!"

And started to countdown.

"2!"

They all covered their ears, facing away from the door.

"1!"

And braced themselves behind the Guard Monokuma.

"Boom-boom-boom!"

As the Bomber pressed the button.

Instantly the bombs ignited in a blaze of small yet violent explosions, loud piercing shrieks of the bombs penetrated their eyes despite being covered, and the trio could barely hear the panicked yells and screams from the others on the other side of the door. Loud whistles of shrapnel flew by in all directions, some going so fast and hot that they embedded themselves in nearby walls like an arrow on flesh. It was so loud for Rantaro, loud enough for his ears to hurt, any louder then it'll overwhelm him and send him into a frenzied panic from the unwanted stimulation.

The explosions were horrible. But were the Bomb Monokuma's bombs so... Violent? Before?

When the explosions stopped they looked towards the door, which was now broken down covered in burns and soot and broken metal, still hot. Rantaro couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as the noise had completely died down, no longer assaulting his senses. They all casually walked out, with Tsumugi further away behind.

Meanwhile, some other members of the class, Kaito, Kaede, Shuichi, Tenko, Kirumi and Gonta looked at them with shock. And surprisingly, none of them looked even the slightest bit injured.

"What- Where did the explosions come from?!" Kaede yelled.

Rantaro just nonchalantly pointed at the Bomber Monokuma.

"G-Gah!"

"Another Monokuma?!"

"Everyone! Get behind Gonta now!"

"Wait!"

Rantaro yelled, holding up the paw of the Bomber like it was just a stuffed toy. "It's fine, these guys are harmless."

"But it just blew up- Maki, Tsumugi as well?"

Tsumugi, eyes still red, nervously waved at them.

"Listen, I'll let you all in later of what happened. But-" He looked around the Library. "I heard the Body Discovery Announcement, who's dead?!"

The group went suddenly silent at that. They all refused to talk, all looking ashamed, horrified. Rantaro went to ask again, but Kirumi merely motioned towards the globe with her hands, her eyes full of sadness and regret.

"Hey..."

Rantaro looked towards the globe, now hesitant to take a step towards the body, hesitant to come to the reality that someone had died, when he was so close to saving anyone.

Regardless of who it was. He failed.

He failed.

He failed.

And so... He walked towards the globe and began to peer past the object, his eyes resting on the bloodstains on the floor and on the bookcase, everyone moved back to give him space.

The pink burned his eyes, something so surreal and unreal was sure to burn into his brain. Blood wasn't pink, it was red, various types of red; never pink. But it was obnoxiously bright neon pink, very much like the blood in the other room. A sharp contrast.

A sharp contrast from the dark clothes of the student lying dead in front of him.

'...I'm... sorry.'

His knees stung as fell down onto the ground, his emotions starting to go haywire.

"Gh...Ghhghhh?!"

A sharp contrast to none other than Ryoma Hoshi, the **Ultimate Tennis Pro** , who lay dead on the ground.

* * *

 **DANGANRONPA MINI-OMAKE!**

 **\\(OwO)\ YAY! /(OwO)/**

"So... Let me get this straight."

Silence. Other than the sizzling of metal and wood.

"Instead of breaking down the academy from the inside out and getting impaled by a spear, you decided the best course of action was... To go to the warehouse, still filled with toxic gas may I add, and get the ingredients to create a damn bomb?"

"Yeah..."

"Which mixed with the sulphur and the hidden phosphorus, created a super bomb which blew up everything and incinerated everyone to the point nothing is remaining and where we're both still barely alive?"

"Well. I did say I was going to stop the Killing Game Maki-Roll."

"Kaito... You may be smart, but you really need to get some common sense."

* * *

 **Ding dong ding!**

 **So... I hope you all enjoyed (I'm gonna be quick cause my internet is on the fritz). I did as well. But unfortunately, I'm going on hiatus for a bit on this series, mainly to get back to college and shit. However, I will in fact also do some uploads on my other series as well before continuing with 53 Lies.**

 **And since I'm here still, let me explain how this will work.**

 **Investigation-Trial 1- Trial 2- Trial 3- Post Trial- Memoires of the Blackened- Memoires of the Killer.**

 **This is how Deadly Life will go, (may have alterations) all will be posted one day after the other after I come back.**

 **I will also go over older chapters and give them some fixing regarding some grammar and add some extra scenes perhaps to make some stuff feel more... Natural I guess? I will also explain the part two of the Mahiru Omake for the previous chapter a bit better in the after notes.**

 **Also, I will still do Kokichi's FTE, just a bit later than usual.**

 **Anyway, hope you all have a nice day, sorry for killing Ryoma, killing V3 characters is hard cause I love them all :(.**

 **Ciao~**


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